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A deceptively long pause, then three more soldiers lost

Nov-29-2007 » Filed Under: 4/2 SBCT

MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune

Eight weeks had passed since the last time Fort Lewis gathered for a memorial ceremony, but that didn't make it any less painful today when the post community paused to remember three soldiers killed in Iraq.

An overflow crowd filled the Evergreen Chapel to mourn Sgt. Christopher R. Kruse, Sgt. Kenneth R. Booker and Cpl. Peter W. Schmidt -- all three from the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, and all killed by bombs earlier this month in Mukhisa, in Diyala Province.

"Someone told me this gets less difficult with time," said Capt. Andrew Marsh, the commander of the rear detachment of the three soldiers' battalion, the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment.

That Stryker battalion has lost 13 soldiers since it left Fort Lewis for Iraq last April.

But having to stand and speak at memorials for each soldier continues to be "the hardest thing I have ever had to do," Marsh said.

Not that he hopes it should ever be easy, or routine. The soldiers remembered today did not back away from a difficult challenge, he said.

"These men knowingly chose to serve their country in a time of war. They chose something in life that never gets easy."

The brigade had gone 52 days since its last fatal casualty when Kruse and Schmidt were killed Nov. 13 in a bomb attack. They were doing a foot patrol in the town northeast of Baqouba.

Booker was killed the next day in a bomb attack on his Stryker vehicle.

[...]

Related Article:

Fort Lewis bids farewell to 3 Strykers - KOMO 4 News


Comments For "A deceptively long pause, then three more soldiers lost":

My heart aches for the families and fellow soldiers of these three brave heros. May they rest in peace.

Posted by: LIZGOLDSTARMOM [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 3, 2007 4:37 PM

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