Army Staff Sgt. Joseph F. Curreri

Died October 27, 2007 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

27, of Los Angeles; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Lewis, Wash.; died Oct. 27 in Siet, Lake Jolo Island, Philippines from injuries sustained in a non-combat-related incident.

Fort Lewis Special Forces soldier drowns in Philippines

The Associated Press

TACOMA, Wash. — A Fort Lewis-based Special Forces sergeant who was captain of his University of Southern California swim team has drowned in the Philippines, the Army said Monday.

Staff Sgt. Joseph F. Curreri, 27, died Friday in an accident at Siet Lake near Panamao in the southern Philippines, the U.S. Army Special Operations Command said in a statement.

He had been assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group at Fort Lewis as a communications sergeant.

Teams from the 1st Group have been sent for years to train Philippine government troops fighting Islamic militant groups in the nation’s southern islands.

Curreri grew up in Maryland but most recently lived in Los Angeles,

The command said he grew up in suburban Baltimore and swam and played water polo in high school. He was a four-year letterman on the USC swim team and captain his senior year.

He joined the Army in July 2004 and went first to airborne training, then Special Forces training at Fort Bragg, N.C. He was assigned to 1st Group last year, the Army said.