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...

Family Feels Soldier Was Overshadowed The former prisoners of war have been in the spotlight since their release. So much, that the family of one solider who was killed in action feels little attention was paid to his sacrifice. Thursday, April 24, 2003 -- Ruben Estrella-Soto would've turned 19 years old Tuesday. His family honored his birthday on Wednesday by playing his favorite songs by his grave. Ruben was killed along with eight other soldiers when his maintinence unit was ambushed by Iraquis. Five others were taken prisoner, and have become household names since their return. Edgar Estrella says his...

THE Pentagon has ordered detailed tests to be carried out on many of the servicemen killed in Iraq in an effort to prove that war crimes were committed against American prisoners of war. Tests have already been carried out by teams of specialist army investigators at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on at least nine of the bodies. An official said that X-rays, DNA tests and full body examinations had been completed on many dead servicemen. The results have been sent to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington for analysis. Parents and spouses of the dead soldiers,...

Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto Jr. would have turned 19 in eight days. Instead of celebrating the young man's life, the traditional Mexican birthday song, "Las Mañanitas" became a tearful tribute to the fallen Fort Bliss soldier Monday at his funeral Mass at San Juan Diego Catholic Church in far East El Paso. More than 1,000 mourners poured out their hearts in a rendition that caused uncontrolled sorrow and grief. As they sang the joyous verses of the song, a casket draped in white held a young man who joined the military to make something of himself and who wanted to wear...

Mexico-U.S border dwellers celebrate POW's freedom By Deborah Tedford MONTERREY, Texas, April 14 (Reuters) - Mexican and Texan migrant farmers took a break from the sorghum fields on Monday to share prayers and kisses with the family of a Mexican-American soldier freed from his Iraqi captors. More than 150 friends, family members and neighbors from the border communities of Mission, Texas, and the Mexican town of Reynosa gathered at the home of Army Spc. Edgar Hernandez on Sunday and Monday to congratulate Hernandez's family, a family friend said. The family of Army Spc. Edgar Hernandez planned a homecoming with the...

Families of Seven Rescued POWS Rejoice By CHRIS ROBERTS .c The Associated Press EL PASO, Texas (AP) - Just two days after Fort Bliss mourned nine soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company, ``great rejoicing'' began with word that five other members of the unit who were taken prisoner in Iraq are now free. ``When it all started it was like a nightmare,'' Joel Hernandez told NBC's ``Today'' show Monday about the capture of his brother, Army Spc. Edgar Alan Hernandez. ``We were just waiting for good news and we got that good news, and now it's time to celebrate.'' Hernandez...

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...