Kyle A. Coumas, 22

Army, Specialist

Based: Ft. Lewis, Wash.

1st Batallion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division

Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom

Died: October 21, 2009

Kandahar province, Afghanistan

Single

Gender: Male

Hometown: Lockeford

High School: St. Mary's High School (Stockton)

Burial: Sandoz-Fuchs Family Cemetery, Wilseyville, Calif.

Coumas died Oct. 21 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was attacked by a roadside bomb. In an open letter to their son, published in the Lodi News-Sentinel after his death, Greg and Lori Coumas acknowledged that his decision to join the Army in early 2007 was not their first choice for their son. But, they said, "Despite all our efforts to steer you in the direction we wanted for you, you chose your own path. We wanted you safe and secure. You needed to make sure everyone else was safe and secure. And, by doing so, you far exceeded any and all of our expectations." From his decision, they added, "we've learned the difficulty of having to say goodbye too soon."

Eduviges G. Wolf, 10/25/2009

Michael A. Dahl Jr., 10/17/2009

11 memories of Kyle A. Coumas

“

Stateside, long before this deployment, Kyle was a good friend. I remember when my boyfriend at the time and I had some ugly fight, and Kyle, never assuming like so few others, invited me to talk. I also remember when Kyle would seek me out if I had mail, both stateside and later Afghanistan. I remember hearing about his death. That same boyfriend turned husband came to my tent with tears in his eyes and said "It was Coumas! Kyle Coumas is dead!". He sobbed. It became real for me at that moment. Our brigade had lost many, but this was my first friend. I had stood at many ramp side briefings, but this is the first one I struggled not to cry at (despite tears running down my cheeks). He was a great, loyal man and an even better friend. And my aforementioned boyfriend, well he became my husband, and then like so many army marriages, my ex-husband. And he also died in Afghanistan. Only 3 years later on Mar 11, 2013. May God take them all and keep them. And may he bless them for eternity and ever after.
<3 Meg

” — Meghan FItzpatrick, April 6, 2014 at 10:44 p.m.

“

A few things stick in my mind from my deployment in Afghanistan, but the most significant to me is the story of PFC/SPC Kyle Coumas. He worked in the HHC mayor cell, doing the mail when I was there. I remember one day about a month into the deployment, he was doing some business for HHC at the Operations Center. I was the brigade battle captain during the deployment (basically on shift for 14-16 hrs, workout, and sleep), so I had a lot less free time than most. I happened to run into him and he said "Oh, CPT Young, you need to come get you mail, you've got about enough to fill a duffel and haven't picked it up since we arrived." Essentially I told him I wouldn't be able to, because during his mail room hours I would be on shift, and I'd send one of my Soldiers to get it. Doing the right thing, he said no, he can only give mail to the person addressed (even with the circumstances we were in over there). So I told him I'd try to get the mail soon. A couple days go by and I didn't pick it up, he comes to the TOC to see me. Carrying in my mail, he told me "Don't worry sir, I'll take care of you." From that point forward, he brought me mail 2-3 times a week on his spare time. He did it because I was about the only guy that really didn't have time to get mail, and he knew the immeasurable impact mail had on Soldiers. I'll never forget his desire to do what was right and his display of selfless service and I'll be forever indebted to him, for something that seems so trivial, but was so huge. Especially during those first months. I'll not forget my brother at arms.

” — Shaun Young, October 24, 2015 at 4:40 p.m.

Share a memory of Kyle

Search by: Age, Base, Branch, Cemetery, Date of Death, Country of Birth, Gender, High School, Hometown, Marital Status, Name, Number of Children, Theater of Operation, Place of Death

Sources: Times research, Defense Department, iCasualties.org

Help us complete our database. Something missing or wrong? Want to share a photo?

Kyle A. Coumas, 22

Related

11 memories of Kyle A. Coumas

Share a memory of Kyle