Rainey, Pruitt Allen

Pruitt Allen Rainey was a 22-year-old from Haw River, North Carolina. He served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army, assigned to Company C, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, based at Camp Ederle in Italy. His unit, part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

On July 13, 2008, Rainey was killed by enemy small arms fire at Combat Outpost (COP) Kahler in the Wanat district of Afghanistan's Nuristan province. The outpost, also known as the Wanat Vehicle Patrol Base, was the site of a major, coordinated Taliban assault that same day. The attack resulted in the deaths of nine U.S. soldiers and wounded many more.

The battle at Wanat occurred during a period of intensified Taliban activity in Afghanistan. Insurgent tactics increasingly relied on coordinated direct assaults and indirect fire against remote coalition outposts. U.S. military strategy at the time involved establishing such outposts to extend influence into contested valleys, a tactic that carried significant risk for the troops stationed there.

Rainey's death was part of the single deadliest day for U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2008. His name was entered into the Defense Casualty Analysis System on the day he died. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart.

Corporal Rainey is memorialized on the Afghanistan War Memorial at the 173rd Airborne Brigade headquarters in Italy and on the Veterans Memorial in his hometown of Haw River. He is survived by his parents and siblings.

Corporal Rainey was killed during Operation Enduring Freedom (2001–2014). The conflict concluded in December 2014. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.

Among those documented in the same conflict: Andrews, Evander Earl, Edmunds, Jonn Joseph, Stonesifer, Kristofor Tif, Davis, Bryant Leroy.

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