Ashley Sietsema

Died: November 12, 2007

Rank: Specialist

Unit: 708th Medical Company (Ground Ambulance), 108th Medical Battalion, 108th Sustainment Brigade, Illinois Army National Guard

Branch: U.S. Army

Specialist Ashley Sietsema died while she was serving her country in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on November 12, 2007, in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Specialist Sietsema, an Army health care specialist and ambulance driver, was conducting a routine medical transfer of a patient from Camp Buehring to Camp Arifjan when she was involved in a single-vehicle accident. The patient was unhurt. The 20-year-old combat medic was part of the Illinois National Guard out of North Riverside, Illinois, and was assigned to the 708th Medical Company (Ground Ambulance), 108th Medical Battalion, 108th Sustainment Brigade. Mourners gathered on November 18, 2007, to say their farewells at the Ronan-Moore-Finch Funeral Home in DeKalb, Illinois, after which Sietsema was laid to rest with full military honors in Fairview Park Cemetery.