Richard J. Berrettini
Died: January 11, 2008
Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
Unit: Pennsylvania Army National Guard Medical Detachment
Branch: U.S. Army
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Joseph Berrettini died on January 11, 2008, from injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device hit his Humvee on his way back to his home base from the Khowst Province in Afghanistan. The attack occurred on January 2, and he was evacuated by air from Afghanistan through Landstuhl, Germany, to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. A dedicated Army Nurse Corps officer, Richard was the first Army nurse to die in Afghanistan, the second to die in the Global War on Terrorism, and the first nurse practitioner to perish from wounds suffered in combat. Berrettini’s comrades honored his life at a memorial ceremony on January 15, 2008, at Camp Phoenix, Kabul, Afghanistan. On January 18, 2008, a Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Pittston, Pennsylvania. His burial, with full military honors, followed at the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Wyoming, Pennsylvania.
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