Hardwick Man Killed In Ramadi During Attack

Spc. Christopher Merchant, 32, of Hardwick, Vt., was killed Wednesday in a coordinated attack on Iraqi police headquarters in Iraq, the National Guard said Thursday.

A Vermont National Guardsman was killed and two New Hampshire soldiers injured during an insurgent attack near Ramadi, Iraq, Wednesday morning.

Spc. Christopher Merchant, 32, of Hardwick, Vt., was killed instantly by a rocket-propelled grenade, according to a release issued Thursday afternoon by the Vermont National Guard.

Sugar Hill, N.H., Police Chief Jose Pequeno, 32, a sergeant in the New Hampshire National Guard, was seriously injured in the explosion, and Pfc. Richard Ghent, 20, of Rochester, N.H., suffered less severe injuries.

All three soldiers were attached to the 28th Brigade Combat Team out of Pennsylvania and were in the same vehicle, according to reports from the Vermont and New Hampshire National Guard. The explosion occurred at an observation post outside of Ramadi, which is about 75 miles west of Baghdad.

"Chris joined the Guard in order to deploy to Iraq. He felt that it was his duty to serve," Merchant's wife, Monica, said in a statement. "While he was there, he told us that he felt their efforts were making an impact. He especially enjoyed assisting the children of Iraq."

Merchant has four children. His wife described him as "a loving and devoted father" and the family's hero.

"We are so very proud of his commitment to country and duty," she said. "But more than that, we are proud of his unconditional love for his family and the sacrifices he made so that we may all live free and without fear."

The 28th Brigade's mission includes providing security forces as well as humanitarian and civil affairs efforts, according to New Hampshire National Guard spokesman Maj. Greg Heilshorn.

The unit has delivered supplies to schools and hospitals and helped train Iraqi police recruits.

The unit is at the start of its eighth month of a year-long mission in Iraq and is expected to return home this summer.

The mood was somber in Sugar Hill Thursday, where town employees fielded numerous calls about Pequeno and issued a brief statement confirming that he had been injured and asking that his family's privacy be respected.

Police Sgt. David Wentworth said Pequeno's wife, Kelley, asked him to respond to inquiries with only the basic details of his injury. Those were sparse Thursday, even from the New Hampshire National Guard public affairs office.

While media reports indicated Pequeno had suffered a serious head injury and several broken bones, Heilshorn said he could not verify those reports and said only that Pequeno had "suffered very serious injuries."

After the attack, Pequeno was transported to an intensive care unit at the Landstuhl Army Hospital in Germany, and Heilshorn said he was scheduled to be transported to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Pequeno and Ghent are close friends, according to Ghent's sister Crystal Williams, who lives in North Haverhill. She said Ghent has spoken to their mother and that his injuries include wounds from both shrapnel and bullets. Her brother indicated that Pequeno suffered a head injury, Williams said.

Wentworth, who has been the sole full-time police officer in Sugar Hill in Pequeno's absence, said he has been in regular contact with Pequeno since his deployment, mainly through e-mail correspondence.

"He has been really good at staying in touch with the town and his family," Wentworth said. "In his last e-mail he was talking about how much he missed his family."

The Pequenos, who live in nearby Lisbon, have three children. The family has been out of town this week, during the annual February school vacation.

Lisbon is also home to about a dozen National Guard soldiers from the 197th Field Artillery Forward who returned from service in Iraq about a year ago, just months before Pequeno was deployed.

Yellow ribbons covered a downtown fence while those soldiers were away. Now, a tattered ribbon bearing Pequeno's name is the only one left.

"Every day somebody from the community has asked me how [Pequeno] is doing," Wentworth said. "The community has been really supportive."

When he was called up last spring, Pequeno was eager to fulfill his military duty and make use of nearly a decade of training with the National Guard.

"I'm not too keen on leaving my wife and kids," he said in an April interview with The Caledonian-Record. "But this is something that we've been waiting [for] and expecting to happen for some time ... As long as my soldiers and I come home safely, that's all I care about."

Note that I tried to post this story first from the Burlington Free Press but they have a complaint against Free Republic about copyright violation. This is not too surprising since it has the editorial policy a liberal socialist rag. Freedom of Speech other than their own, is NOT one of their concerns it seems.

So I simply got the story from my local paper:

Thank You Caledonian Record of Saint Johnsbury Vermont.

Burlington Free Press ? Tank like the rest of the MSM!

Our hearts and prayers go out to these families at this time. All of these men are wonderful patriots!

May God bless his family and help his children to know that their father was a true hero. Prayers to protect our troops and keep them safe.

Marine Mom

Thank-you for posting. Humanizing them is the best way to remember them.

God bless those who serve and their families.

Semper fi

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