HIGHLANDS RANCH, CO, USA
U.S. Army
SGT, 927TH ENGINEER CO, 769TH ENGINEER BN, LOUISIANA ARMY NG
FOB FENTY HOSPITAL, AFGHANISTAN 11/13/2008
Army Sergeant Johnnie Lee Stiles, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado died November. 13, 2008 in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He served as a Humvee gunner whose unit checked and cleared roads of bombs and insurgents. He was doing route clearance when the blast occurred. He was assigned to the 927th Engineer Company (Sapper), 769th Engineer Battalion, Louisiana Army National Guard, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His unit was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. SGT Stiles was thirty-eight years old.
Sergeant Stiles was nearly killed the previous month when a suicide bomber blew up a military vehicle in front of his. He was still able to rescue three other soldiers and returned to duty before his 30-day recovery period was finished. He was strong and really cared for his men.
Sergeant Stiles was born in Bartlesville, Okla., and graduated from Littleton High School in Colorado. He served in the military for seventeen years, first joining the Marines and then switching to the Army in 1999. He had served three years at Fort Carson, left the Army and then returned as a member of the Colorado Air National Guard.
In SR No. 55, the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana officially expressed their gratitude and condolences for Sergeant Stiles’s service to his country