A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who was born in Latvia has died during combat in Iraq. Capt. Michael Yury Tarlavsky, 30, was based at Fort Campbell, Ky., military and media reports said.
Tarlavsky died Aug. 12 in Najaf, Iraq, when his unit came under small arms fire and grenade attack, the Department of Defense said in a press release. He served with the 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, based at Fort Campbell.
Tarlavsky’s family emigrated from Latvia when he was five years old. In 1979 they settled in Clifton, N.J., the Bergen County Record reported, quoting family members.
Tarlavsky graduated from Rutgers University in 1996. He served in Korea and Hawaii before being assigned to Iraq. He was married two years ago and had a young son.
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My prayers go out to the family through this hard time.
We in the Special Forces community are saddened by the loss of yet another of our brothers, CPT Michael Tarlavsky.
Special Forces Association, Chapter 38 has a Casualty Fund to accept donations for the families of all 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) soldiers who are killed in action. Our website is located at http://www.sfa38.org
You may donate in general to help with the initial $1000 we give a family within 72 hours of being notified of a KIA or donate to a certain family. The $1000 helps the family with any immediate expenses they may have and is in addition to donations we receive for a particular family. All donations for a particular family go to that family in its entirety, just be sure to write the family name in the memo section of the check. All donations that we receive for a family goes to that family in its entirety. We do not use any of the donations for administrative purposes.
You may send donations to:
Casualty Fund, SFA Chapter 38
PO Box 223
Fort Campbell, KY 42223