Sad day in Louisiana
Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:42 pm
This is the most we, as a state, have lost in one day since Korea.
wwltv.com
Bodies of six Louisiana soldiers arrive home
02:29 PM CST on Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Doug Simpson / Associated Press
BELLE CHASSE -- Amid silence except for the sobbing of family members and commands to military pallbearers, the bodies of six Louisiana soldiers killed in a bomb blast in Iraq were returned to the state Wednesday.
One by one, the six flag-draped caskets were removed from an Air Force cargo plane and loaded into separate hearses as family members watched from a nearby hangar at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base near New Orleans.
The six were killed January 6 in the first of two deadly bombings that took the lives of eight members of the 256th Infantry Brigade of the Louisiana National Guard. In both attacks, bombs blew up heavily armored vehicles.
There were no speeches.
"They trained together, they fought together, they went to war together, they died together. The families wanted them to come home together," Hunt Downer, assistant adjutant general in the National Guard, told reporters before the plane arrived.
The six who returned were Sgt. Bradley Bergeron, 25, Staff Sgt. Christopher Babin, 27, and Sgt. Armand Frickey, 21, all of Houma; and Sgt. Warren Murphy, 29, of Marrero, Sgt. Huey Fassbender III, 24, of LaPlace and Sgt. 1st Class Kurt Comeaux, 34, of Raceland.
All but Comeaux received posthumous promotions.
A soldier from New York also was killed in the blast, which military authorities said was probably set off by insurgents using a remote electronic detonator. Brig. Gen. John Basilica, commander of the 256th Brigade, has said the soldiers were on a mission to suppress the insurgents' ability to launch rocket and mortar attacks.
Four days after the six were killed, two other Louisiana guardsmen died in a similar attack. They were Sgt. Robert Sweeney III of Pineville and Staff Sgt. Bill Manuel of Kinder. Their bodies have not yet been returned.
Full media coverage was allowed at the Wednesday arrival, including photographers and television news crews -- an exception to a Pentagon edict generally banning media coverage of America's war dead as their remains arrive. The Pentagon has cited privacy concerns, but critics have accused the government of censoring war coverage.
The National Guard said Wednesday's coverage was authorized by the families of the six soldiers.
"The families have a lot of grieving to do and we grieve with them," Gov. Kathleen Blanco told reporters after attending the ceremony. "We appreciate them, we love them and we remember them in our prayers."
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
wwltv.com
Bodies of six Louisiana soldiers arrive home
02:29 PM CST on Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Doug Simpson / Associated Press
BELLE CHASSE -- Amid silence except for the sobbing of family members and commands to military pallbearers, the bodies of six Louisiana soldiers killed in a bomb blast in Iraq were returned to the state Wednesday.
One by one, the six flag-draped caskets were removed from an Air Force cargo plane and loaded into separate hearses as family members watched from a nearby hangar at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base near New Orleans.
The six were killed January 6 in the first of two deadly bombings that took the lives of eight members of the 256th Infantry Brigade of the Louisiana National Guard. In both attacks, bombs blew up heavily armored vehicles.
There were no speeches.
"They trained together, they fought together, they went to war together, they died together. The families wanted them to come home together," Hunt Downer, assistant adjutant general in the National Guard, told reporters before the plane arrived.
The six who returned were Sgt. Bradley Bergeron, 25, Staff Sgt. Christopher Babin, 27, and Sgt. Armand Frickey, 21, all of Houma; and Sgt. Warren Murphy, 29, of Marrero, Sgt. Huey Fassbender III, 24, of LaPlace and Sgt. 1st Class Kurt Comeaux, 34, of Raceland.
All but Comeaux received posthumous promotions.
A soldier from New York also was killed in the blast, which military authorities said was probably set off by insurgents using a remote electronic detonator. Brig. Gen. John Basilica, commander of the 256th Brigade, has said the soldiers were on a mission to suppress the insurgents' ability to launch rocket and mortar attacks.
Four days after the six were killed, two other Louisiana guardsmen died in a similar attack. They were Sgt. Robert Sweeney III of Pineville and Staff Sgt. Bill Manuel of Kinder. Their bodies have not yet been returned.
Full media coverage was allowed at the Wednesday arrival, including photographers and television news crews -- an exception to a Pentagon edict generally banning media coverage of America's war dead as their remains arrive. The Pentagon has cited privacy concerns, but critics have accused the government of censoring war coverage.
The National Guard said Wednesday's coverage was authorized by the families of the six soldiers.
"The families have a lot of grieving to do and we grieve with them," Gov. Kathleen Blanco told reporters after attending the ceremony. "We appreciate them, we love them and we remember them in our prayers."
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Take a moment of silence and pray for all those who have died and are still over there protecting our freedom.
