Modern Deployment Oral History
Specialist Adrian Najera
A Company, 2-35 Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan 2011-2012
Adrian Najera was born February 1990 and is of “mixed blood” with German, Irish and Indian ancestors—he was raised in Casper in a Hispanic household. He graduated from Kelly Walsh High School in 2008, and enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 2010.
A combat infantryman, he was an MG-240 machine gunner assigned to A Company, 2-35 Infantry (“Cacti”), 25th Infantry Division (“Tropic Lightning”), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Adrian deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in April 2011. He served in northeast Afghanistan in the Pech River Valley, the foothills of the Hindu Kush Mountains, and in Kunar, Nangarhar & Nuristan Provinces.
He returned home in March 2012, and was honorably discharged in March 2013. Adrian is currently completing his Associates Degree at Casper College, and intends to continue his undergraduate studies at the University of Wyoming. He is planning to serve as a counselor to veterans.
Part One
Part Three
Part Two
Specialist Najera survived this helicopter crash.
Bomb Drop at Operation SF Cleanup