By Dan Elliott
Associated Press

FORT CARSON, Colo. — Fort Carson paid somber tribute Wednesday to 15 of its soldiers killed in Afghanistan last month, the worst single month for combat deaths the post has endured since the Vietnam War.

Eight soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division were killed in a single battle on Oct. 3, and seven soldiers from the 4th Engineer Battalion, including Spc. Kevin O. Hill, 23, of Brooklyn, were killed in three separate incidents.

Hill attended John Dewey High School in Gravesend. He graduated in 2008 with a B.A. in criminal justice from Monroe College in the Bronx.

The soldiers were honored in two services at Soldiers’ Memorial Chapel on the post outside Colorado Springs. The 550-seat chapel was nearly full for both.

Chuckles rippled through the chapel as soldiers recalled their comrades’ lives and praised their bravery and friendship. Letters about the soldiers were read from troops still serving in Afghanistan.

Across the front of the chapel, each fallen soldier was represented in the Army tradition with his portrait, a pair of boots and an M-4 rifle, standing muzzle-down with a helmet resting atop it and dog tags dangling from the pistol grip.

A soldier sobbed quietly at the back of the chapel during the roll call for the 4th Infantry soldiers.

Outside the chapel at the end of each service, seven riflemen fired three volleys in a 21-gun salute, and a bugle played Taps.

The 4th Infantry soldiers killed in the Oct. 3 battle were Staff Sgt. Justin T. Gallegos, 27, of Tucson, Ariz.; Staff Sgt. Vernon W. Martin, 25, Savannah, Ga.; Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt, 24, Applegate, Calif.; Spc. Christopher T. Griffin, 24, Kincheloe, Mich.; Spc. Stephan L. Mace, 21, Lovettsville, Va.; Pfc. Kevin C. Thomson, 22, Reno, Nev.; Kirk; and Scusa.

The 4th Engineer Battalion soldiers killed were Staff Sgt. Glen H. Stivison Jr., 34, of Blairsville, Pa.; Spc. Kevin O. Hill, 23, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Spc. Daniel C. Lawson, 33, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.; Spc. Eric N. Lembke, 25, Tampa, Fla.; Pfc. Brandon M. Styer, 19, Lancaster, Pa.; Flores; and Han.

Fort Carson says 32 soldiers from the post have been killed in Afghanistan and 255 have been killed in Iraq. Officials said they did not know the exact month and year when the post had more soldiers killed in combat but said it was in Vietnam.

The post usually conducts a single monthly service for its soldiers killed in the previous month, but it held two this time because of the number of dead and because they were from two units.

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