Two GIs Killed In Anbar; U.S. Soldier Dies In Truck Mishap

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2006 - Two U.S. soldiers were killed yesterday during fighting in Anbar province, Iraq, while another soldier died yesterday from injuries suffered in a vehicle accident near Mosul, U.S. military officials said.

Two U.S. soldiers with the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) were killed by enemy small-arms fire during operations in Anbar province.

A Task Force Lightning soldier assigned to 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, based out of Fort Lewis, Wash., died as the result of a Humvee accident. An investigation of the incident is underway.

The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Also, the Defense Department released the names of two Marines and seven soldiers previously killed supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The deceased Marines are:

-- Marine Lance Cpl. James Chamroeun, 20, of Union City, Ga., died Sept. 28 of wounds received while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

-- Marine Pfc. Christopher T. Riviere, 21, of Cooper City, Fla., died Sept. 26 of wounds received while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

The deceased soldiers are:

-- Army Pfc. Christopher T. Blaney, 19, of Winter Park, Fla., died in Taji, Iraq, from a non-combat related incident on Sept. 29. Blaney was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. The incident is under investigation.

-- Army 1st Lt. James N. Lyons, 28, of Rochester, N.Y., died on Sept. 27 in Baghdad of injuries suffered when his mounted patrol came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire. Lyons was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

-- Army Staff Sgt. Edward C. Reynolds, Jr., 27, of Groves, Texas, and Army Pfc. Henry Paul, 24, of Kolonia Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. They died in Baghdad on Sept. 26, of injuries suffered when their M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle rolled over while maneuvering. Both soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. The incident is under investigation.

-- Army Staff Sgt. Jose A. Lanzarin, 28, of Lubbock, Texas, was killed in Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept. 26, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Lanzarin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany.

-- Army Cpl. Casey L. Mellen, 21, of Huachuca City, Ariz., died on Sept. 25 in Balad, Iraq, of injuries suffered when his mounted patrol came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire in Mosul, Iraq. Mellen was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.

-- Army Spc. Jared J. Raymond, 20, of Swampscott, Mass., died on Sept. 19, in Balad, Iraq, of injuries suffered when an IED detonated near his M1A2 Abrams Tank during combat operations in Taji, Iraq. Raymond was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

(Compiled from Defense Department and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

[Web Version: http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1389]

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U.S.-Iraqi Raids Net Terrorists, Unexploded IEDs

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2006 - Iraqi soldiers today captured a person suspected of complicity in recent murders and kidnappings during a raid in northeastern Baghdad, while another Iraqi operation conducted yesterday near Mahmudiyah netted two suspected terrorists, according to Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.

The person caught in today's Iraqi military operation is believed to be involved with illegal militias and improvised explosive bomb attacks against civilians, officials said. The raid was conducted in conjunction with Operation Together Forward, officials said, with the goal of catching criminals inciting sectarian violence, denying them safe havens and providing for a safe and secure Iraq.

In yesterday's operation conducted near Mahmudiyah, soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, had observed two suspects carrying more weapons than the law allows and detained them.

In another, separate incident yesterday, U.S. soldiers with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, discovered an IED on the side of a road in Baghdad's Doura neighborhood. Two more unexploded IEDs were also found. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the IEDs without incident or casualties.

[Web Version: http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1388]

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Afghans Work On Dam, Building Reconstruction Projects

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2006 - More than 140 Afghan laborers are currently working to complete local dam and building construction projects worth a total of nearly half a million dollars, according to Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases.

More than 90 Afghan workers are helping to build a water-retention dam on a natural waterway near the village of Rawza in Ghazni district, Ghazni province. Work on the $200,000 concrete dam began July 25, but much of the work was redone because of heavy rain and flooding that month.

Work on the more than 45-foot-high dam is 25 percent complete. The project is scheduled to be finished in the middle of November. When completed, the dam will help safeguard nearby homes and crops from flooding.

Also, more than 50 Afghans are laboring to build new district education and administrative buildings in Qara Bagh district, Ghazni province. The project costs more than $254,000 and is slated for completion in March 2007.

Work on the two buildings began Sept. 4. They will have water and electrical systems, latrines, guard towers and a perimeter wall, which is already in place.

The project is on schedule and will benefit many Afghans living in the area, said Lt. Col. John Paradis, a coalition spokesman.

"This project is another example of the coalition's hard work in helping rebuild Afghanistan so that the Afghan people can live their way of life without harassment of the Taliban and other terrorist organizations," Paradis said.

[Web Version: http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1387]

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Pace Accepts Medal of Honor Society Award on Behalf of Military Families

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

BOSTON, Oct. 1, 2006 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff turned an honor to him into a tribute to the families of American servicemembers during the Patriot Dinner of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society here yesterday.

The society presented Marine Gen. Peter Pace the Patriot Award. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is made up of the men who have received the nation's highest award for battlefield valor. They present the Patriot Award annually to "those persons, who through their life's work, have distinguished themselves as Americans who are dedicated to freedom and the ideals represented" by the society.

More than 60 Medal of Honor recipients attended the society's convention here this year. The men received their awards for extraordinary heroism on the battlefields of World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Brian Williams, the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News and emcee for the dinner, said the men represent more than valor. They also represent sacrifice and serving a cause greater than self. "This is probably the most notable gathering of men in New England since the Continental Army was formed," Williams said.

Pace received the Patriot Award from Medal of Honor recipient Navy Capt. Thomas G. Kelley and from Society President Gary L. Littrell. "I want to accept this award on behalf of a very special group of Americans, and that is the families of our men and women who serve in the armed forces," Pace said.

Pace gave the case for military families. "What I learned about families I learned in my own kitchen," he said. "I learned from my family, and from watching so many others, some very basic truths about the American military family."

He said that when servicemembers deploy overseas, they know when they are in danger. Besides, they are with superbly trained and equipped units that are capable of getting them through the battle. "If you've got to be in battle, there's no place I'd rather be than in a company of Marines," Pace said.

But families don't have the luxury of knowing when their servicemembers are in danger. "Every day that we're in combat, they think we are being shot at," Pace said. "It's an enormous strain on them."

He said that if servicemembers are wounded in combat, the families help them recover. "And if we get awards, they stand in the background as if they had nothing to do with it," he said. "And when we get tired, they dust us off and put us back in the fight and remind us how important it is to the nation. And when we get killed, they suffer for as long as they live."

Pace said the children of military members often make the greatest sacrifices. "I had the great honor of standing next to a 12-year-old young man - David Smith," the general said. He is the son of Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith, who received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions in the Battle for Baghdad in 2003.

"As I stood there in Washington, D.C., on the Mall paying respects to Gold Star families, and held that young man's hand in mine, I was overcome with the sacrifice that he had already made for his country," Pace said. "Our families, quite simply, serve this country as well as anyone who has ever worn the uniform."

Pace told the men and their families that the United States is at war against a relentless and cruel enemy. "Since our inception as a nation, we have had to struggle for our freedom and every challenge has been met by American men and women who have stood tall," the general said.

The 2.4 million men and women in uniform look to the past for their inspiration, Pace said. "We hope and pray in our hearts that if we are ever challenged, as you have been, that we could serve our nation just a fraction as well as you have," he said to the Medal of Honor recipients.

Pace said the United States did not ask for this war. "There are enemies out there right now who would like to take the medals off those who proudly wear them and grind them into the dirt," he said. "(There are enemies) who would like to ensure we could not gather together like this and celebrate their heroism. They want to tell us how to pray, how to dress, and they want to subjugate women."

The enemy plan is to reestablish a fundamentalist caliphate stretching from Spain to Indonesia and then take down the free world. "There are 2.4 million Americans right now, who are here to say, 'Not on our watch!'" Pace said. "And if somehow they get through that 2.4 million, there are 30 million veterans in this country they will have to deal with next and then there are at least 68 Medal of Honor recipients who will do what they did last time."

Pace told the men that he was honored to accept the award on behalf of military families. He also assured the men that the legacy "we have inherited from the heroes in this room is cherished by" the men and women in uniform today. "As surely as Americans have had heroes in the past, there are heroes serving in uniform today that will ensure our nation endures," he said.

After the dinner, Pace met with many of the Medal of Honor recipients. It also seemed that every Marine or former Marine in the Boston area attended the dinner in order to meet the heroes of the past and greet the first Marine to be appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Band from Cherry Point, N.C., performed for the event, and Irish tenor John McDermott closed the dinner with "God Bless America." The audience joined in - some with strong and true voices, others with voices lessened by age - but all standing straight and true.

[Web Version: http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1385]

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