Richardson, Ricky Linn Jr

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Ricky Linn Richardson Jr. was a 33-year-old Marine from Franklin, Missouri. He served with the 9th Engineer Support Battalion, part of the 3rd Marine Logistics Group based in Okinawa, Japan. His unit was deployed as part of the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Afghanistan, a formation conducting counterinsurgency and support operations in the country's volatile southwest.

Richardson's service included deployments to Afghanistan, the Philippines, and the Horn of Africa. The 9th Engineer Support Battalion's mission in Afghanistan involved construction, route clearance, and other critical engineering tasks to support coalition and Afghan forces in Helmand and Nimruz provinces.

On June 10, 2009, Richardson died in Delaram, Nimruz province. The Department of Defense announced his death was the result of a hostile incident. No further operational details of the event were publicly released in initial casualty reports.

His death was recorded during a period of intense fighting in southern Afghanistan. 2009 saw a significant increase in U.S. troop levels and a corresponding rise in combat casualties as operations expanded ahead of a planned surge of forces later that year.

Richardson was one of at least 44 U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan in June 2009, according to Defense Department records. The conflict, Operation Enduring Freedom, had begun in October 2001 and would continue until its formal conclusion in December 2014.

He is memorialized on the Afghanistan War casualty rolls and by veterans' organizations. His awards include the Purple Heart.

Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led combat mission in Afghanistan, began in October 2001 and 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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