Honoree: Clayton L. Adamkavicius

Army National Guard Captain Clayton Adamkavicius, 43, of Fairdale, Kentucky, was assigned to the 149th Brigade, 35th Infantry Division, Kentucky Army National Guard. His assignment with Task Force Phoenix was to train Afghan army personnel. He was fatally wounded April 21, 2006, when he was investigating a weapons cache found in Afghanistan’s Uruzghan Provence and was attacked by small-arms fire.

Capt. Adamkavicius was a California native and joined the US Air Force in 1986 serving as an enlisted airman in both Guam and at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. He left the Air Force and joined the Army National Guard in 1990 and had been serving in the Kentucky Guard since 1999. It was his third deployment.

"He was a fine young officer and will be missed by his family, his fellow soldiers and everyone who knew him," said Maj. Gen. Donald Storm, Kentucky's Adjutant General. "It's a heartbreak for the National Guard and the citizens of the commonwealth."

He is survived by his wife and daughter.