Rodewald, Joseph Earl

Joseph Earl Rodewald was a 21-year-old Marine from Albany, Oregon. He served as a Lance Corporal with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, part of the 1st Marine Division out of Camp Pendleton, California. His unit was deployed to southern Afghanistan as part of Regimental Combat Team 2 under the I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

In the fall of 2010, Rodewald's battalion was operating in Helmand province, a region characterized by intense insurgent activity and a focus of the U.S. troop surge. The unit was engaged in counterinsurgency operations aimed at securing population centers and disrupting Taliban networks.

On October 13, 2010, Rodewald was killed during a hostile incident. According to U.S. Department of Defense casualty announcements, he died from wounds sustained while conducting combat operations. No further specific details of the engagement were publicly released.

His death was part of a particularly difficult period for the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, which sustained heavy casualties during its 2010-2011 deployment, earning the nickname 'The Dark Battalion.' Rodewald was one of 1,430 U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan in 2010, the deadliest year of the war for American forces.

The conflict in which he served, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, began in October 2001 and concluded in December 2014. Rodewald's death is recorded among the total of 2,356 American service members who died during that operation.

Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led combat mission in Afghanistan in which LCPL Rodewald served, 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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