Family hopes for missing soldier's return By MATT JOYCE, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jun 19, 10:26 AM ET
DALLAS - In his calls and notes from Iraq, Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca told relatives about his dangerous assignment at military checkpoints. His family is now hoping for the 23-year-old Houston soldier's safe return after learning he was one of two servicemen missing in Iraq after an insurgent attack.
An umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq claimed in a statement Monday that it had kidnapped the two U.S. soldiers, but it did not name them. There was no immediate confirmation that the statement was credible, although it appeared on a Web site often used by al-Qaida-linked groups.
"I was 95 percent sure he was one of them," Menchaca's brother, Julio Cesar Vasquez, of Houston, told The Associated Press late Sunday. "I already had an idea because he was at a checkpoint."
U.S. officials said they were still trying to confirm whether the missing soldiers were kidnapped during the attack Friday on their checkpoint south of Baghdad.
White House spokesman Tony Snow, speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, said President Bush was being briefed regularly on the missing soldiers. Snow said "an al-Qaida related group has today issued something claiming responsibility, but there's no confirmation."
The military has said soldiers nearby heard small-arms fire and explosions, and a quick-reaction force reached the scene within 15 minutes. The force found one soldier dead but no signs of the other two. A farmer told the AP that two soldiers had been captured by seven masked gunmen.
Vasquez and other members of Menchaca's family said they were waiting for more information as the military searches for Menchaca and Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore.
The Defense Department said Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., was killed in the attack. All three soldiers were assigned to Fort Campbell, Ky.
Kay Fristad, an Oregon National Guard spokeswoman, said she had a brief conversation with Tucker's parents and they said he joined the military "to do something positive for the country."
Fristad said Tucker's family had been camping this weekend and only recently learned the news. She said they have asked for privacy and would not comment until Monday.
Former Madras Mayor Rick Allen, whom Tucker worked for at a gas station while he was a student at Madras High School, described Tucker as strong, street smart and mechanically inclined.
"He's a tough kid. Hopefully he's got the inner strength to make it through this ordeal."
Allen said he learned the news on television.
"It's just bizarre; it takes your breath away. Here's this kid who used to come and pump gas at your place and now he is clear across the world — held," Allen said. "And there's nothing anyone can do, except hope these people have compassion and let him go."
Menchaca's wife, 18-year-old Christina Menchaca, of Big Spring, Texas, said military representatives told her Saturday they were taking "every means possible to find him," she said.
"We're basically just watching the news because no one else knows anything about it, no one has heard anything about it," she said. "We're just going by what the news has to say."
Christina Menchaca said she married her husband in September and he deployed in October. The couple met through her brother, who served in the military with Kristian Menchaca.
"He enjoys being in the military," Christina Menchaca said of her husband, from whom she received an e-mail on Tuesday. "That's basically what he wants to do."
Kristian Menchaca's mother, Maria Vasquez of Brownsville, Texas, said she last heard from her son a few weeks ago. Along with asking for some treats from home, like Cheetos and cleaning wipes, the soldier told his mother he was working at a checkpoint.
"I'm a little bit nervous, and I cannot sleep," she said. "I worry about him."
Julio Vasquez said his brother joined the military last year and deployed to Iraq within months. He was attending a work-force training center when the Army recruited him.
"He wanted to go infantry," Julio Vasquez said. "We were telling him the dangers that infantrymen had, but that's what he wanted to do."
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Missing US troops in area where many live in fear By Michael Georgy
Sun Jun 18, 8:56 AM ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers missing in Iraq since Friday disappeared into a lawless al Qaeda stronghold where residents describe being terrorised by unknown militants.
Military helicopters and divers are combing the rural Euphrates river area south of Baghdad for the troops who went missing after an attack on their checkpoint near the town of Yusufiya killed another U.S. soldier.
Most people in the Sunni Arab region resent the presence of the U.S. troops. But even if they wanted to help the two soldiers, doing so could be fatal.
"We live in fear. Gunmen always go to people's houses asking about who works for the Iraqi army or police or the Americans," taxi driver Abdullah Jassim told Reuters by telephone.
"If they find out you have any ties with the Americans or the Iraqi government they will certainly kill you."
Yusufiya is in an area some Iraqis call the "Triangle of Death" for its frequent attacks by insurgents who carry out bombings, shootings and kidnappings as part of a campaign aimed at toppling the Shi'ite-led, U.S.-backed government.
It has been one of the most difficult areas for U.S. troops to root out rebels because of the landscape. The triangle lies on a direct route from the guerrilla bastion of Ramadi, which offers a steady supply of fighters and weapons.
And its numerous orchards, complicated network of canals from the Euphrates and thick grass offer ideal hiding places.
Residents say bearded Iraqi militants as well as foreign fighters, believed to be al Qaeda militants, have become more and more powerful in the area.
"We try not to go out too much. When we go to the market we do it very quickly," said Jassim.
In their traditional flowing Arab robes with checkered red and white headdresses or wide black pants and shirts with black ski masks, insurgents freely roam the streets, residents say.
People don't know who the bearded militants are. They think most are Iraqi but are afraid to ask.
"We cannot say anything to these people. We are afraid that if we open our mouths they will just shoot us," said local council employee Muhammad Amaar. "They do what they want and no one dares question them."
Iraqi army troops and police are especially vulnerable. Their convoys are often ambushed or blown up by roadside bombs along the main road through the triangle, one of the most dangerous in Iraq.
Police officials said it's not an environment the two U.S. soldiers could likely survive if they fell into the wrong hands.
"We still don't know their fate. But these people kill anyone associated with the Americans," said a police official in Yusufiya, who asked not to be named for his safety.
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