Free Republic

The families of at least three of the soldiers who died in the March 23 ambush of Fort Bliss' 507th Maintenance Company said they haven't been told the details of their loved one's deaths. But the Army said it has finished telling the families of the fallen soldiers about the attack that claimed nine lives in the Iraqi desert. Randy Kiehl, father of Spc. James Kiehl of Comfort, Texas; Arlene Walters, mother of Sgt. Donald R. Walters of Salem, Ore.; and Roxane Dowdy, sister of Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy of Cleveland, said they are upset with the way the...

Military tells 507th, kin details of ambush Laura Cruz El Paso Times Army officials have begun telling families and members of Fort Bliss' 507th Maintenance Company what the military's investigation has found about the March 23 ambush in Iraq in which nine 507th soldiers were killed, six captured and four wounded. The families Thursday were not discussing what they had been told because the Army asked them not to speak publicly until all families have been given the information. But Janie Kiehl, mother of slain soldier James Kiehl, who hadn't been briefed on the ambush yet, said that when her...

Slain soldier's daughter offered a bit of solace Stephani Mata's pain is a private affair despite the spotlight shined on the heroic death of her father, Army Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, last month in Iraq. The 7-year-old's mother, Nancili, asked Nixon Elementary not to disrupt Stephani's classroom routine. The school respected her wish and that of other military parents. Half of Nixon's students come from military families. "Their parents want them to come to school and not have to deal with it," Principal Ginny Hunt said. Thursday, the young girl's tragedy was acknowledged in one simple, loving gesture:...

More than 1,000 people are gathered at the Biggs Army Airfield deployment facility this afternoon to pay tribute to the nine members of the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss who were killed in an ambush near the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on March 23. Among those attending the ceremony are Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki along with Congressional leaders. Soldiers and civilians began filing into the deployment facility around 1:30 p.m. today. They steadily filled chairs facing a stage backdrop with a wall of blue fabric and a 20-foot tall american flag. At the front of the...

Names of the four US Marines who died in yesterday's helicopter crash: Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of Bloomington, Ill. Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of Houston, Texas Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Watersbey, 29, of Baltimore, Md. The Pentagon has just released the names of two more US Marines who were killed in Iraq. I'll post as soon as I find that.

8 Bodies Found in Raid Were U.S. Soldiers .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Eight of the bodies found during the rescue of an American POW in Iraq this week were members of her ambushed Army maintenance unit, the Pentagon announced Saturday. The eight soldiers were with Pfc. Jessica Lynch when their unit, the 507th Maintenance Company, was ambushed near Nasiriyah on March 23. The U.S. commandos who freed Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah this week also found 11 bodies, nine of which were believed to be those of Americans. The nine bodies had been returned to a...

Relatives of Missing Soldiers Fear Worst By CHRIS ROBERTS .c The Associated Press FORT BLISS, Texas (AP) - Relatives of soldiers missing from the 507th Maintenance Company spent Wednesday fearing the worst after learning that 11 bodies - some of them believed to be Americans - had been found during the rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital. ``With every day that passes, it just gets worse,'' said Amalia Estrella-Soto, mother of 18-year-old Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto of El Paso. ``It's another day without knowing anything.'' Her son and Lynch, a 19-year-old supply clerk, were among 15 soldiers of...