{"id":876,"date":"2019-01-02T19:28:14","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T02:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deamaltzchallenge.com\/?p=876"},"modified":"2019-01-18T16:33:05","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T23:33:05","slug":"army-spc-jonathan-d-menke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maltzchallenge.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/02\/army-spc-jonathan-d-menke\/","title":{"rendered":"Army SPC. Jonathan D. Menke"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/static.militarytimes.com\/thefallen\/menke_jonathan_d_lg.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-57f51ed7e3c40867\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/lg-share-en.gif\" alt=\"Bookmark and Share\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Army Spc. Jonathan D. Menke <\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Died August 4, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n\t\t22, of Madison, Ind.; assigned to the 38th Military Police Company, \n38th Infantry Division, Indiana Army National Guard, Danville, Ind.; \ndied Aug. 4 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when debris from an \nimprovised explosive device that was detonated on an overpass fell onto \nhis vehicle. Also killed was Sgt. Gary M. Henry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3 Hoosier guardsmen die, 1 hurt in Iraq<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By Will Higgins<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indianapolis Star<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three\n Indiana National Guard soldiers were killed and a fourth was seriously \ninjured in Iraq in the past week, making this the bloodiest stretch for \nHoosiers in three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Saturday, Sgt. Brian K. Miller, 37, \nPendleton, died from injuries in a vehicle rollover during combat \noperations in Abd Allah, a town south of Baghdad. He was a member of the\n Guard\u2019s 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which deployed to Iraq in \nMarch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, two Hoosier guardsmen died when a roadside bomb \ndetonated under the Humvee they were riding in near Baghdad. The dead, \nSgt. Gary Henry, 34, Indianapolis, and Spc. Jonathan Menke, 22, Madison,\n were members of the Danville-based 38th Military Police Company, which \narrived in Iraq in May to train Iraqi police officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spc. John Blickenstaff, 25, Twelve Mile, also a member of the 38th, was riding in the vehicle and was seriously injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All\n four soldiers were serving their first tours in Iraq. Miller was \nscheduled to return home late this year. The others were scheduled to \nreturn home early next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since post-9\/11 fighting began, only \nonce have Indiana soldiers suffered more casualties over such a short \nperiod. In March 2005, four Indiana Guard soldiers patrolling in \nAfghanistan were killed when a roadside bomb obliterated their vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller\n \u2014 a member of the 76th\u2019s Company D, 1st Battalion, 293rd Infantry \nRegiment, headquartered in Huntington \u2014 was a 19-year veteran of the \nGuard, according to Staff Sgt. Jeff Lowry, a Guard spokesman. Most \nrecently, Miller was a mechanic and metal worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sgt. 1st Class \nTimothy Wilkey, who served with Miller for 18 months in a Seymour-based \nmaintenance company, described him as a go-getter who always was willing\n to help out a fellow soldier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe always looked out for the \nyounger soldiers \u2014 that is very unique anymore,\u201d Wilkey said. \u201cHe was \nnever afraid to take on a task. People looked up to him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller \nwas the second member of the 76th to die in Iraq. His vehicle, a \nwrecker, swerved to avoid an object in the road and rolled, Lowry said. \nThe other member of the 76th to die, Sgt. Joseph A. Ford, was killed in a\n similar accident in May when his armored security vehicle rolled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Henry,\n a 12-year veteran of the Indianapolis Fire Department, joined the Guard\n in 1991 while still in high school. He had retired from the Guard about\n 12 years ago but joined again last fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGary said that since 9\/11, he had this drive in him,\u201d said his sister Jenny Clark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He leaves a wife and three children, ages 8 to 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Menke joined the Guard in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He\n graduated in 2005 from Madison Consolidated High School, where teachers\n said he joined the Guard in his junior year. They praised his athletic \nand musical theater ability and called him a leader who attracted other \nstudents to the school stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe was what everyone would think of\n as the perfect high school jock,\u201d said teacher Aaron Kelsey. \u201cBut then I\n think he injured his hand one year in football, so then he decided to \ntry out theater. &#8230; He really made it cool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The injured \nBlickenstaff joined the Guard in 2004. His wife, Misty, 23, who is \nexpecting their third child, said she has talked to him on the phone. \u201cI\n was worried and scared, but it helped hearing his voice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Toy drive honors slain Indiana soldier\u2019s wish<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Associated Press<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MADISON,\n Ind. \u2014 Friends of an Indiana soldier killed in Iraq this month are \nhelping fulfill his wish of bringing toys to impoverished children in \nIraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While serving in Iraq, 22-year-old Spc. Jonathan Menke asked\n his family send him Beanie Babies and Matchbox cars so he could hand \nthem out to Iraqi children as gifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Indiana National Guard soldier from Madison died Aug. 4 in a roadside bombing near Baghdad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the weekend volunteers collected toys at the front gates of the Ribberfest festival in downtown Madison to send to Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barbara\n Walburn, who works with Menke\u2019s sister, came up with the idea of \ncollecting the toys. She says she was impressed by his wishes and wants \nto continue that in his memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Army Spc. Jonathan D. Menke Died August 4, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom 22, of Madison, Ind.; assigned to the 38th Military Police Company, 38th Infantry Division, Indiana Army National Guard, Danville, Ind.; died Aug. 4 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when debris from an improvised explosive device that was detonated on an overpass [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2019honorees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maltzchallenge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maltzchallenge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maltzchallenge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maltzchallenge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maltzchallenge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/maltzchallenge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":973,"href":"https:\/\/maltzchallenge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions\/973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maltzchallenge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maltzchallenge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maltzchallenge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}