The Department of Defense announced Tuesday that 26-year-old Christina Marie Schoenecker (Pictured), Arlington, died Monday in Baghdad, Iraq
An Army Reserve soldier from Kansas has died in Iraq in a non-combat situation.
The Department of Defense announced Tuesday that 26-year-old Christina Marie Schoenecker, Arlington, died Monday in Baghdad, Iraq.
The department did not release any details about her death and said it is under investigation.
The Army Sgt. was the third soldier to die since the beginning of 2018, according to The Kansas City Star.
All three deaths in the ongoing, U.S.-led fight against ISIS called Operation Inherent Resolve were non-combat related.
Schoenecker enlisted in the Army in May 2009 and was on her first deployment, which began last June. A human resources specialist, she was assigned to the 89th Sustainment Brigade out of Wichita.
The department did not release any details about her death and said it is under investigation (Schoenecker pictured along with her mother)
Military personnel transfer the casket containing the remains of Sgt. Christina Marie Schoenecker to a hearse Friday, March 2, 2018 at the Hutchinson Airport in Hutchinson, Kan.
The Hutchinson Police Department, the Hutchinson Fire Dept. and members of the Patriot Guard escort the body of U.S. Army Sgt. Schoenecker
John Hooker, past American Legion Post 68 commander salutes as the procession for Sgt. Christina Schoenecker leaves the Hutchinson Airport, Friday, March 2, 2018
The Patriot Guard holds U.S. flags as the body of Sgt. Christina Schoenecker returns home, Friday, March 2, 2018, in Hutchinson, Kan
The family of Sgt. Christina Schoenecker watches as the airplane containing her casket lands at the Hutchinson Airport, Friday, March 2, 2018
Sgt. David Maness with the Hutchinson Police Dept. stops traffic at 11th Ave. and Poplar St. as members of the Patriot Guard follow the hearse carrying the body Schoenecker
She had received the Army Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Service Ribbon, and the National Defense Service Medal.
A month before her deployment, Stars and Stripes reported that Schoenecker exchanged numerous Facebook messages saying that she planned to take many family photos with her overseas.
‘We express our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Sgt. Christina Marie Schoenecker,’ command executive officer for the 451st Expeditionary Sustainment Command, Frankie Murphy, said in a statement.
‘We’ve lost a valuable member of our team, and she will be sorely missed’ he added.
A GoFundMe is underway to help her family with travel and funeral costs, and perhaps create a memorial in her name.
The military noted that 51 U.S. military members have died since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve in 2014.
The Defense Department said of those deaths, 38 had no link to a combat mission or scenario.
The Patriot Guard line up along the fence at the Hutchinson Airport for the return of the casket of Sgt. Christina Schoenecker Friday, March 2, 2018
The Hutchinson Police Department, the Hutchinson Fire Dept. and members of the Patriot Guard escort the body of U.S. Army Sgt. Christina Schoenecker
The immediate family of Sgt. Christina Schoenecker watches as the airplane containing her casket taxis into position at the Hutchinson Airport March 2, 2018
Portraits of Sgt. Christina Schoenecker are displayed at Elliott Mortuary, Friday, March 2, 2018, in Hutchinson, Kan. Schoenecker, 26, of Arlington, Kan., died Feb. 19, 2018, in Baghdad