As Schweinfurt readies tribute, word comes of more fatalities

[lebkuchen]

Two more members of the Schweinfurt, Germany-based 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment have been killed in Iraq, officials said Tuesday.

News of the deaths came Monday of Pfc. Lucas Vincent Starcevich and Sgt. Mario K. De Leon as the unit and community prepared to mourn the deaths of three other members of the 1-18 in a ceremony Thursday afternoon.

Since deploying last August and September, the battalion has lost nine soldiers, and 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, of which 1-18 is a part, has lost 31.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=45207

[geardaddy]

1. Did Merkel send them?

I thought Germany voted against the US invasion at the UN.

[lebkuchen]

2. These are US troops stationed in Germany

Here's an update in today's paper.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=45236

Schweinfurt honors three fallen soldiers

The front Humvee in an April 6 convoy through Baghdad was hit by a roadside bomb, taking the lives of Capt. Anthony Palermo Jr., Spc. Ryan Scott Michael Dallam and Pfc. Damian Lopez Rodriguez.

...

“Being the first vehicle on any road in Baghdad is not for the faint of heart,” Glaze said.

The convoy that Palermo, 26, Dallam, 24 and Rodriguez, 19, were leading carried concrete barriers to be used as protection against enemy fire at the forward outposts that task force members call home.

Out on patrol just two weeks before the due date of his first child, Palermo was scheduled to fly to Germany on leave to be with his wife, Kristin, who serves as an Army captain in Würzburg, Germany.

...

A native of Norman, Okla., Dallam is survived by his father and stepmother, Scott and Leslie Dallam of Norman, mother Laura Dallam of Showlow, Ariz., and a younger brother and sister.

The youngest soldier in the unit, Rodriguez was so proud of serving his country, he made sure to travel home to Pueblo Magnet High School in Tucson, Ariz., in uniform before deploying. He had been with 1-18 for seven months before heading to Iraq and is survived by his mother, Anna B. Scott, and father, Raphael Lopez, both of Tucson.