Stryker Brigade News

“It basically turned into a fight,” said Staff Sgt. Dewey Knapp, with 2nd Platoon, Company B, 5-20th Inf. Regt. “We found a whole bunch of IEDs, got hit with an IED, and got hit with small arms fire and (rocket propelled grenade) fire.”

One Soldier from each battalion was killed during the day’s fighting.

The 5-20th Inf. Regt. reported that Soldiers from Company B and the 1-12 CAB’s Company A, destroyed an enemy RPG team which targeted them at the site of one of the roadside bombs. The bomb was planted in front of a school in western Baqubah.

The cavalry Soldiers, who have been conducting military operations in Baqubah since arriving from Fort Hood in November 2006, responded immediately to the Stryker vehicle, said Spc. Daniel Mendoza, from Company B, 5-20th Inf. Regt.

“We stand together,” Mendoza said of his cavalry counterparts, “We know they are right by us. They have our backs, our front, and our sides.”

The bomb blast sparked an initial fire fight, with the cavalry and Stryker Soldiers engaging insurgents for about 30 minutes. Sporadic fire continued throughout the entire day.

Mendoza said he was expecting intense fighting in Baqubah, but didn’t think it would happen on the first day.

“They are going to come at us with all they have,” said Mendoza.

Spc. Alex Horton, also with Company B, feels that Baqubah has been infused by insurgents who left Baghdad to escape the troop surge in the Iraqi capital.

Although the Stryker Soldiers are trying to cope with the death of two of their comrades, one of whom was from their own battalion, Knapp said it won’t affect the job the Soldiers are here to do.