STRYKER BRIGADE: Alaska-based soldier is killed on patrol in Iraq.
A Fairbanks-based soldier was killed Tuesday in Iraq -- the first member of the 172nd Stryker Brigade to die in combat since the 3,800-person unit left Alaska this fall.
The Stryker brigade started shipping out for the desert from posts in Anchorage and Fairbanks in August. The unit arrived in Iraq in early September, replacing a Washington-based Stryker brigade that had lost more than 30 people during its yearlong tour there. Kelly moved back with her family in Tonganoxie after her husband was deployed.
The Strykers are eight-wheeled, armored combat vehicles new to the military and are used to transport troops on the battlefield.
Several of the soldiers in the Alaska Stryker unit have been wounded in the last two months, some seriously. The sniper attack that killed Frantz occurred Tuesday around 11:40 a.m. Iraq time, according to a statement Wednesday from Army Alaska spokesman Maj. Kirk Gohlke.
Gohlke said Frantz's platoon was conducting a cordon and search operation in an area of Mosul known as "Bedrock." Frantz was mounted in his Stryker vehicle, protecting the dismounted members of his platoon, when he was shot. His wife said she was told he died instantly.
No other American soldiers were wounded.
http://www.adn.com/news/military/story/7109166p-7016259c.html
RIP Spc. L Frantz and my God give peace to his widow Kelly and others in the Fratz family. Any loss is sad and it seems more real when it is in our backyard.