Special Operations Soldier Killed Saving 70 Hostages in Iraq

Soldier Killed in Iraq Raid Belonged to Delta Force
ABC News
By LUIS MARTINEZ LEE FERRAN JAMES GORDON MEEK
Oct 23, 2015

The U.S. Army soldier killed in the raid that freed 70 hostages from an ISIS prison in northern Iraq was a highly-decorated, veteran member of the elite Delta Force, U.S. military sources told ABC News.

Master Sergeant Joshua L. Wheeler is the first American combat death in Iraq since American troops returned in mid-2014 to train, advise and assist the Iraqi military to fight ISIS, military officials said.

Wheeler, 39, of Roland, Oklahoma, "died Oct. 22, in Kirkuk Province, Iraq, from wounds received by enemy small-arms fire during an operation," the Defense Department said in a statement, which also noted that he was assigned to "Headquarters U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina." He is survived by his wife and four sons, the Army said.

Two military officials have told ABC News that Wheeler was a team leader for the elite Army special operations unit commonly known as "Delta Force," which is based at that command at Fort Bragg.
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US Special Ops servicemember killed in rescue operation in Iraq
Stars and Stripes
By Tara Copp
Published: October 22, 2015

WASHINGTON — A U.S. special operations servicemember was killed Thursday during a raid to free captives from an Islamic State-controlled prison in northern Iraq, the Pentagon confirmed.

The rescue took place near the town of Hawijah, after U.S. and Iraqi officials received "information that the hostages faced imminent mass execution,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.

The operation freed 70 hostages, 22 of whom were members of the Iraqi Security Forces, and a number of Islamic State fighters were killed, he said.

The operation on Thursday marks the first American killed in combat in Iraq since the U.S. withdrawal in 2011. It also raised questions about whether the U.S. forces were operating beyond the "train, advise, assist" mission that President Barack Obama authorized when the United States began attacks against the Islamic State last year.

Based on information provided by DOD as of Oct. 22, there have been no other U.S. servicemember deaths in Iraq as a result of hostile action. There have been nine non-combat related deaths, and five servicemembers have been wounded since U.S. forces returned last year to Iraq for Operation Inherent Resolve.
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