Military deaths

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan:

David H. Gutierrez, 35, of San Francisco; staff sergeant, Army. Gutierrez died Dec. 25 at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near him in the village of Howz-e Madad, southwest of Kabul. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Jason M. Johnston, 24, of Albion, N.Y.; specialist, Army. Johnston was killed Dec. 26 when a roadside bomb exploded near him in Arghandab in southwest Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Ronald J. Spino, 45, of Waterbury, Conn.; staff sergeant, Army. Spino was unloading supplies when he was killed Tuesday by an Afghan soldier who opened fire on foreign troops at a military base in the Bala Murghab district of western Afghanistan’s Badghis province, which borders Turkmenistan. He was assigned to the 274th Forward Surgical Team, 44th Medical Command at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Sources: Department of Defense, Times staff reports and the Associated Press