Posted on 12/29/2004 8:11:24 PM PST by TexKat
Avalon Jacobsen, 2, wanders from her mother during a memorial service for her father, Capt. William W. Jacobsen Jr., and five other Fort Lewis soldiers, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2004, at Fort Lewis, Wash. The soldiers were killed in last week's mess tent bombing in Mosul, Iraq. The soldiers honored are Staff Sgt. Julian S. Melo, 47, a supply specialist from Brooklyn, N.Y, Jacobsen., 31, an infantry officer and company commander from Charlotte, N.C., Sgt. Darren D. VanKomen, 33, a supply specialist from Bluefield, W. Va., who spent his childhood in the Lewiston, Idaho, area, Staff Sgt. Robert S. Johnson, 23, a chemical operations specialist from Castro Valley, Calif., Spc. Jonathan Castro, 21, a combat engineer from Corona, Calif., and Pfc. Lionel Ayro, 22,a combat engineer of Jeanerette, La. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Air Force Staff Sgt. Patrick Alberts fights back tears as he looks over a memorial with his wife, Liesa Alberts, following a service Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2004, at Fort Lewis, Wash., for six Fort Lewis soldiers killed in last week's mess tent bombing in Mosul, Iraq.. The soldiers honored are Staff Sgt. Julian S. Melo, 47, a supply specialist from Brooklyn, N.Y, Capt. William W. Jacobsen Jr., 31, an infantry officer and company commander from Charlotte, N.C., Sgt. Darren D. VanKomen, 33, a supply specialist from Bluefield, W. Va., who spent his childhood in the Lewiston, Idaho, area, Staff Sgt. Robert S. Johnson, 23, a chemical operations specialist from Castro Valley, Calif., Spc. Jonathan Castro, 21, a combat engineer from Corona, Calif., and Pfc.Lionel Ayro, 22, a combat engineer of Jeanerette, La. Alberts was a close friend of Melo. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
'We Grieve The Loss Of 6 Soldiers, 6 Brothers In Arms'
December 29, 2004 By Molly Shen
FORT LEWIS - Nearly a thousand people packed Soldiers Memorial Field at Fort Lewis Wednesday, to honor fallen comrades.
"We grieve the loss of six soldiers, six brothers in arms," Army Maj. Timothy Gauthier said as the memorial service began. "We will forever honor these men."
From the fierce warrior to the generous friend. From the one who loved music to the one who wanted to open his own business.
From the father to the son.
All six of them, soldiers.
Captain David Barbuto fought back tears as he spoke of his friend, Captain William Jacobsen.
"I will remember him as a great American," Capt. Barbuto said. "A hero that gave his life in defense of a nation that he dearly loved so that someday my children can live in a peaceful world."
The six Stryker Brigade soldiers were among 22 people killed when a suicide bomber walked into a mess tent in Mosul, Iraq on Dec. 21.
Fellow soldiers shed tears over their deaths but said each man was dedicated to a noble cause.
Captain Vincent Maycovich honored Sergeant Darren VanKomen.
"Wherever he served, he made a difference," said Capt. Maycovich. "Both as a soldier and as a man. He did not die in vain. His legacy will live on. We will never forget his sacrifice."
Fort Lewis has had to bury 37 soldiers since the war in Iraq began. Each time, the service is filled to capacity with tears, grief and thanks.
"We train together, we fight together," Lieutenant General James Dubik said after the service.
With tears he added, "Unfortunately we sometimes die together. But we also live together."
And that's when this community comes together, to find support to go on.
The Fort Lewis-based soldiers were:
-Staff Sgt. Julian S. Melo, 47, a supply specialist from Brooklyn, N.Y.;
-Capt. William W. Jacobsen Jr., 31, an infantry officer and company commander from Charlotte, N.C.
-Sgt. Darren D. VanKomen, 33, a supply specialist from Bluefield, W. Va., who spent his childhood in the Lewiston, Idaho, area.
-Staff Sgt. Robert S. Johnson, 23, a chemical operations specialist from Castro Valley, Calif.
-Spc. Jonathan Castro, 21, a combat engineer from Corona, Calif.
-Pfc. Lionel Ayro, 22, a combat engineer of Jeanerette, La.
The radical Ansar al-Sunnah Army has claimed responsibility.
No word yet on when they could head overseas Last Updated: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 7:22 PM
Reference Code: AR-20214
December 29 - SALEM – More 70 additional Oregon Army National Guard citizen-soldiers were placed on alert two days before Christmas, possibly heading for Afghanistan or Iraq to provide repair and maintenance of heavy construction equipment, officials said Wednesday.
The alert order was received for two platoons of the 3670th Maintenance Company, based in Clackamas.The unit is commanded by Lt, Nicole Brugato of Vancouver, Wash,with First Sgt, Allen Holland from Portland.
The mission of the 3670th is to mobilize and deploy to theater of operation to conduct general support maintenance for conventional equipment end items and components for return to the theater army supply system.
“The alert order doesn’t provide a deployment location or timeframe, but it does state the soldiers may be mobilized for operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom,” said Capt. Mike Braibish. “If we receive a mobilization order, that will provide us the details on when and to where they’ll be expected to deploy.”
A “soldier readiness processing” will take place at this point, Braibish said, “essentially a review of the soldiers and their records to make sure they are medically qualified, trained to current standards, and administratively prepared for deployment. That processing is scheduled for Jan. 8-9 in Salem.
“Once the SRP is completed, we’ll identify which soldiers are eligible for deployment,” Braibish said.
KIEV: Ukraine will withdraw its 1,400-strong military contingent from Iraq by the end of next year, Defence Minister Oleksander Kuzmuk was quoted as saying on Wednesday. “Next April we will be sending only a reinforced battalion rather than a brigade and by the end of 2005 we will complete our pullout of the contingent,”
Kuzmuk’s press service quoted him as saying. The statement said a battalion would be made up of about 500 servicemen. Ukraine’s original contingent sent to Iraq was made up of some 1,600 servicemen. It has suffered nine dead and 30 injured. The withdrawal is supported by all political forces in Ukraine. Liberal Viktor Yushchenko, winner of this week’s presidential election re-run of one that had been declared rigged, favoured the pullout as did his defeated rival, Viktor Yanukovich. Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma sent troops to bolster the US-led force in Iraq to smooth over relations with Washington, strained over allegations that Kiev had sold illicit arms to Baghdad while Saddam Hussein was in power. reuters
By KAREN CLARK
Local soldiers let folks back home know they appreciate their support, care packages.
Grateful for the support they have received, local soldiers serving in Iraq thanked folks back home for holiday care packages and made clear they look forward to returning to the states.
Capt. Kurtis Barclay, Sgt. Dave Kradel, Staff Sgt. Mark Dehner, Spc. John Coogan, Staff Sgt. Randy Stachelrodt and Sgt. 1st Class Robert Fugate spoke via telephone Wednesday from their operations center in Iraq.
"We patched our phone line into the civilian network," said Barclay in a call placed to The Derrick newsroom.
The men are all members of the 28th Infantry Division, Charlie Battery, First Battalion of the 107th Field Artillery unit of the National Guard based in Oil City. They have been stationed in Iraq since February.
Under the direction of Barclay, the company commander, the unit is performing security operations in the Baghdad area.
"The unit has really been bounced around quite a few places," said Barclay, an Oil City resident.
Because of military regulations, the exact location of the unit could not be disclosed, but it appeared to be more desirable than previous assignments.
"For us, this is the best place we've been at so far in country. We've lived in anything from tents to steel buildings, nothing like this. Here we have our own restrooms, showers, TV, a few more comforts of home. The food is also better. We had a regular mess hall at the last place, but the food was not the quality it is now," Dehner, of Oil City, said.
"There's a gym, a day room with computers and phones, so we can make calls. We have TV in our room. We usually have three (football) games to choose from each time slot on Sundays. There's a wide variety of games and other programs we can watch," said Kradel, a Titusville resident.
Barclay and the others indicated their holidays had passed as pleasantly as possible in a strange and hostile land.
"It was a pretty good Christmas, and morale is high, especially since we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel here. Our one-year timeline is up in February. ... There's a lot of that timeline that can swing left or right, so it's somewhat fuzzy yet, but we definitely know its getting close to the tail end of things," Barclay said.
"Morale is high. When we first got here, it seemed like this was a long way off. We still don't have any definite dates, but you can see the light," Kradel said.
"We already know the people who are to replace us. Nobody knows the exact dates, but we are making our best guesses and tentatively planning. I think about it all the time, more and more each day," Stachelrodt, of Franklin, said.
The high morale carried through all of the men interviewed.
"It's been a long year in some ways. In other ways its seems like just yesterday when we set foot in this country. Our replacement unit is en route to see us. We train these guys to do what we are doing and start moving back home to family. It's like a dream come true. There's been times it looked so far away and now we can see the end. These guys came together as one big family and worked through family problems. There is always a shoulder to lean on. The unit has turned into a pretty tight family," Fugate, of Oil City, said.
The Christmas Day feast of turkey, all the trimmings, both sweet and white potatoes and numerous pies were served Army-style to the troops, according to Barclay.
"It was still cafeteria-style, but it was a good selection and they decorated the dining facility with a Nativity set. A lot of the figures were life-sized and Christmas tree and Santa's 6-foot sleigh was up. There was a lot of effort to try to bring the spirit of Christmas here for the soldiers," Barclay said.
"It was as good as could be expected considering where we are. But nothing beats Christmas at home," Kradel said.
"Our entire unit was split up early on in our deployment, and we were joined together in late November and could spend Christmas together. We had our whole unit together," Stachelrodt said.
Barclay said a couple of different trees from the family readiness and from private groups are set up in the common areas.
"We have artificial trees in a couple of places, so there's been some lights and decorations," he said.
All of the men have been given leave to return home, some for family emergencies and others as a matter of policy.
"I went home in July, the last three weeks. Everyone of us has had the opportunity to go home at least once. Sometimes people had to go home for various family emergence or environmental leave. (out of this environment)," Stachelrodt said.
"I was home in August - I made it home for my 20th wedding anniversary. I had mixed emotions. You are excited for the first couple days. It was a little easier to go back knowing I was over half done with my tour, but emotionally it was tougher. I knew I'd be home again shortly," Dehner said.
"I was one of the last few to come home. I came home in late October. I came back here the 3rd or 4th of November. That's kind of the way it goes. We make sure that all the younger people under us get to go home first. From my level up above if we don't get leave we understand that. But we were able with the company strength to get everybody home on leave," Fugate said.
Even with a 15-day leave, it could not replace the time lost with loved ones.
"The two weeks at home was fantastic, but it was so fast that it was like a whirlwind and you didn't really get a chance to get caught up on everything. There just wasn't enough time to get caught up on all that's happened since we've been gone. It will be good to get back into the family groove again," Fugate said.
The unit works eight-hour shifts seven days a week, which doesn't allow much time for anything else.
"We had to work on Christmas," Kradel said.
All of the men commented on packages and letters sent from home, but one gift sent earlier this year, was among the most appreciated.
"My dad was able to send us a little bit of help. He was able to send us leak detectors for the Humvees so we can keep that up and running. It's not that different from a home air conditioner. It was quite a trial by fire if your vehicle didn't have air conditioning during the day. When the temperature outside is 140, it gets quite warm, maybe up to 150 with no air. Air conditioning is a blessing. I had the resources, and I used it," said Coogan, whose father, Jack, runs a heating and air conditioning business in their hometown of Franklin.
Coogan turned 21 while in Iraq, but will have to put off the celebrations until he returns home.
"I was working the night of my birthday. We love the holidays and we try to celebrate, but when you got to work you got to work, it's just another day," said Coogan.
The soldiers were all compassionate about the sufferings of their families back home, but one woman's angst was heart-wrenching for her son - that of Judith Bendetti, a nurse at UPMC Northwest and mother to John Coogan.
"The person who has had the hardest time with this deployment is my mom. For the first six or seven months of this deployment, I would call her every chance I could and listening to her crying and worrying about me was hard. We had a death in the family on Dec. 19, and since that it's been really tough for her, but she's really strong and really fighting to keep with it," Coogan said.
Along with mothers, girlfriends and wives also bear a burden of separation from their loved ones.
"For the three years since I've been with her, I've spent half of my time away. I was either here or getting out of basic. I've only seen her for a year and a half really. It's been hard but it's worth the effort," said Coogan of his girlfriend, Lauren Witherup of Oil City.
The mission has not been without peril and the unit lost two soldiers in May near Fallujah. Spc. Carl F. Curran II, 22, of Union City, and Spc. Mark J. Kasecky, 20, of McKees Rocks, died May 16 when an explosive lashed to a bridge they were crossing near Fallujah blew up and flipped their Humvee into a canal where they both drowned.
Several of the men have been wounded in action and will receive the Army's Purple Heart, according to Capt. Cory Angell of the public affairs office of the Army National Guard.
"A lot of the people back home are really showing their support and they are the hometown heroes. Thank you for that," Barclay said.
"We're doing fine, we've got each other to take care of and we are getting through with everybody's love," Fugate said.
1st Lt. John Frye, commander of the 211th Maintenance Co., and flag-bearer Spc. Lacey Rettos present arms during the playing of the National Anthem at a departure ceremony on Tuesday for the unit, held at Camp Atterbury, Ind. The unit is based in Newark and has been called to active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
By Melissa Knific, mknific@nncogannett.com Advocate Reporter
EDINBURGH, Ind. -- A departure ceremony was held Tuesday afternoon for members of the Ohio Army National Guard 211th Maintenance Company.
The troops, based out of Newark, are set to leave for Iraq within the next day or so, but military protocol doesn't permit publishing the exact time of departure.
On Nov. 3, the guardsmen left Newark for mobilization training at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Ind. During that time, they received equipment and training for the skills necessary for deployment.
Maj. Mike Brady, a spokesman for Camp Atterbury, said the formal ceremony announces the troops are prepared to join active duty. Families were welcome to attend.
Camp Atterbury Post Commander Col. Kenneth Newlin spoke during Tuesday's event.
The activation is the largest military deployment from Licking County since World War II. It's the first time the maintenance company has been activated in its 55-year history.
good morning. Thank you for these links on the memorial service as well as current events in the hot zones..
hopefully in next day or two much of the snow here will melt as temps rise. My van has not left drive for a week.. still pretty socked in.
You & Mr. Kat doing anything special NYears eve?
Not a good development, IMO
US troops arrest 13 armed militants in Mosulþ:
þþ
þ BAGHDAD, Dec 30 (KUNA) -- US forces arrested Thursday a group of armed þ
þmilitants after raid operations in Mosul town north Iraq.þ
þ A statement issued by the multinational forces said the US soldiers have þ
þbesieged and searched some areas in southern Mosul, which led to arresting 13 þ
þarmed militants.þ
þ The statement disclosed the militants were part of a group manufacturing þ
þbombs and was charged for attacking the US and Iraqi troops positions. (end)þ
þ ahh.rsþ
þKUNA 301631 Dec 04NNNNþ
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=692853
Iraq Says Senior Zarqawi Aide Captured in Baghdad:
Thu Dec 30, 4:54 AM ET:
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces in Iraq (news - web sites) have captured a senior member of the al Qaeda-linked network led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a raid in Baghdad, the Iraqi government said on Thursday.
It said Fadil Hussain Ahmed al-Kurdi was captured along with two other suspected insurgents. It said Kurdi, a 26-year-old Iraqi Kurd also known as Ridha, was the brother of Umar Baziyani, a Zarqawi lieutenant captured in May.
"Ridha was responsible for facilitating communications between al Qaeda and the Zarqawi terror networks as well as coordinating the movement of terrorists in and out of Iraq," a government statement said.
"Both Ridha and Umar Baziyani remain in detention and are being question by Iraqi and coalition forces."
The government did not say when the arrests were made. U.S. forces said three weeks ago they had seized unidentified "transnational terrorists" in Baghdad.
On Monday, an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) endorsed Zarqawi as al Qaeda's leader in Iraq and called for holy war against foreign troops and Iraqi forces attempting to secure Iraq's elections scheduled for Jan. 30.
The government said this week another senior member of Zarqawi's network was captured in Mosul.
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for many of the bloodiest suicide attacks in Iraq and has beheaded several foreign hostages.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041230/wl_nm/iraq_arrest_dc_4
French ex-hostage says Iraq kidnappers linked to Al Qaeda:
(Reuters)
30 December 2004:
DUBAI - A French hostage who was released last week after four months in Iraq said his kidnappers grouped militants linked to Al Qaeda and former members of ousted president Saddam Hussein’s ruling party.
Journalist Christian Chesnot told Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in an interview published on Thursday the men who were guarding him and fellow French journalist Georges Malbrunot included “fundamentalists” and former Baath officials.
The two were kidnapped by a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq. They returned home on December 21.
“The group, as far as we understood, was made up of former Baathists, including the body guard of the personal secretary of Saddam Hussein,” Chesnot was quoted as saying.
“In addition, there are also youths who told us they had been trained in Afghanistan on making explosives and who referred to (Al Qaeda leader) Osama bin Laden as Sheikh Osama.”
Sunni Muslim militants such as the Islamic Army in Iraq have staged several suicide bombings in Iraq and taken many Westerners hostage. The most violent group has been that of Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi acknowledged by bin Laden as the network’s leader in Iraq.
The United States, whose army led the 2003 war that toppled Saddam, has repeatedly said ex-members of the largely secular Baath Party members were involved in the insurgency in Iraq and that they are working with militant groups -- their former foes.
Chesnot said their guards had told him that the Islamic Army in Iraq had between 15,000 to 17,000 fighters. “Where is the truth, where is the publicity, I don’t know,” he added.
Chesnot, 37, works for Radio France Internationale while Malbrunot, 41, is a Le Figaro reporter. They said they were not mistreated during their captivity.
Both journalists are Arabic speakers who have long worked in the Middle East. Last year, they published a book on Saddam’s rule entitled “L’Irak de Saddam Hussein: portrait total” (Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, A Complete Portrait).
The men were kidnapped along with their Syrian driver on Aug. 20 as they drove to Najaf from Baghdad. Their kidnappers demanded France repeal a ban on Muslim headscarves in state schools, but Paris rejected the demand.
Their captors have taken other Westerners hostage, including Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni, who was killed on Aug. 26.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2004/December/focusoniraq_December245.xml§ion=focusoniraq&col=
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A worker checks political posters at a commercial printing facility in Baghdad on December 30, 2004. With only a month to go until national elections, even Iraqis willing to brave bombs and threats have little idea of what they are really voting for, as campaigning has yet to really get off the ground. Photo by Ali Jasim/Reuters
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Gunmen take positions on a street in residential area in the north Iraq (news - web sites) city of Mosul December 29, 2004. American warplanes attacked targets in the south of the city after a suicide truck bomb attack on a U.S. position. At least 25 insurgents were killed in the fighting and 15 U.S. troops wounded, U.S. military officials said. REUTERS/Stringer |
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‘Most of Saddam’s money smuggled’:
UNITED NATIONS: Most of the money that Saddam Hussein illicitly obtained by cheating on UN sanctions on Iraq came from oil smuggling outside the UN oil-for-food program, the head of an independent inquiry said on Tuesday.
While there have been a number of estimates of the amount of corruption surrounding the oil-for-food program, including several by various US congressional investigators, “the reliability of those figures is in question,” said Paul Volcker, a former chairman of the US Federal Reserve. “When we feel we have reliable figures, we will publish them. But all those figures indicate the bulk of the money that is talked about is smuggling, not oil-for-food, strictly speaking,” Volcker said in a rare media interview.
He spoke with Alhurra, a US government-backed television network aimed at Arab audiences.
The United Nations imposed economic sanctions - including a ban on oil sales - on Iraq in 1990 after Saddam, Iraq’s then-president, invaded Kuwait.
The world body launched the oil-for-food program in December 1996 to ease the impact of the sanctions on ordinary Iraqis. The program, supervised by the 15-nation UN Security Council, authorized the government to sell oil and use the proceeds to buy civilian goods, and it remained in operation until November 2003.
Volcker’s comments appeared to coincide with the findings of Charles Duelfer, a former UN arms inspectors, in a report to the CIA in late September. While staff of the US Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations estimated Saddam had pocketed $21 billion by cheating on the sanctions, Duelfer said he amassed $10.9 billion “through illicit means” between 1990, when the sanctions were first imposed, and 2003, when he was ousted. Of this amount, $1.5 billion was through kickbacks from contracts for goods purchased through the oil-for-food program while some $229,000 came from surcharges on oil sold under the program, according to Duelfer.
The remaining money came from smuggling oil to Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Egypt outside the program, Duelfer said.
There were, “without question, problems in the oil-for-food area,” Volcker told Alhurra.
“But when you look at those $10 billion figures, or $20 billion figures, most of those numbers are so-called smuggling, much of which was known and taken note of by the Security Council, but not stopped. That is, in my mind, an entirely different category than what went on within the oil-for-food program itself,” he said. reuters
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_30-12-2004_pg4_3
þ Militants destroy telephone exchange in Mosulþ:
þþ
þ BAGHDAD, Dec 30 (KUNA) -- A group of unknown militants destroyed Thursday a þ
þtelephone exchange in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.þ
þ A statement issued by the multinational forces said a group of militants þ
þdestroyed early of today's mourning a telephone exchange near Al-Maghreb þ
þdistrict in western Mosul.þ
þ The statement added the attack caused a breakdown in the telephone exchange þ
þin the entire town. No causalities among the workers were reported.þ
þ In another development, the southern City of Basra witnessed a large þ
þdemonstration called by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq þ
þ(SCIRI).þ
þ The demonstrators condemned the assassination attempt that has recently þ
þtargeted the SCIRI leader Abduaziz Al-Hakim and burned a dummy illustrating þ
þthe Iraqi Defense Minister Hazim Al-Shalan, calling for dismissing him. (end)þ
þ ahh.smj.rsþ
þKUNA 301744 Dec 04NNNNþ
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=692866
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