Pentagon Identifies Army Casualty, DUSTWUN Status (OEF)

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2009 -- The following news release made available Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Defense is the text of a statement identifying a casualty and a soldier listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN):

The Department of Defense today announced the identity of a soldier currently listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) and the death of a soldier who were both supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. The two soldiers were members of the 1st Battalion, 508thParachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

• Sgt. Brandon T. Islip, 23, of Richmond, Va., has been unaccounted for since Nov. 4 in Bala Murghab, Afghanistan, when he went missing while involved in a resupply mission.

• Sgt. Benjamin W. Sherman, 21, of Plymouth, Mass., has been identified as having been killed while participating in the Nov. 4 resupply mission.

Search and recovery efforts are ongoing, and the incident is under investigation.

(Report from a U.S. Defense Department news release.)