Diomaris Neris of Lakewood got to know Alcantara while he was stationed at Fort Lewis. She wanted to share her memories of the young soldier, killed Aug. 6 in Baqouba.

“He was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic and immigrated to New York City at the age of five months. He joined the Army immediately after graduating high school because he wanted to use his GI bill to pay for college.

“He was very excited about going to Iraq because as he put it ‘we are going to kick butt.’ He was so excited about coming (home) next month

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I have a friend in northern Iraq who is a Yazidi, someone I met on the two trips there with troops from Fort Lewis. He did not lose any family members in the terrorist bombings that killed hundreds of his people, but treated many of the victims in the hospital. He is angry and sounds desperate about the situation there.

I have promised him before that I would not use his name because he fears that it subject him and his family to attack.

He wrote:

“Do you know that what happened yesterday was the most barbaric

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It’s been a few weeks since we last heard from Lt. Col. Matt Green, writing about his experiences with a police training team in Iraq. This installment, No. 20, is out of sequence. No. 18 ended with a surprise — an arrest warrant issued for Green’s comrade, Iraqi National Police Brig. Gen. Bahaa.

We’re trying to get our hands on No. 19, but in the meantime, here’s No. 20 (and we are assuming that things turned out OK for Bahaa).

July 20, 2007

"Six, this is Five, ya see the smoke?"

"Roger, looks like it’s in our sector."

"Check it out?"

"Please."

We turned right, back into the heat instead of left and back home. An afternoon meeting and lunch with a panel of retired four-star generals making their rounds at the beck and call of some congressional or presidential commission had gone exceptionally well. Nothing else was on the schedule and the previous few days had been hectic, so we were going to pack it in early. But a tall pillar of black smoke was a pretty clear indication that the plan was changing.

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The post has scheduled two memorial ceremonies this week for the 10 soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division who were killed in recent attacks in Iraq.

Gonzalez	Heinlein	Jairala	Santos	Rojas-Gallego	Salinas

At

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I took this picture of Staff Sgt. Jacob M. Thompson in Samarra in December 2003, when he was a specialist in the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division. He was with Blackhawk Company, and the soldiers were searching houses where insurgents were believed to have stashed weapons and ammunition. Samarra was a real hot spot back then, and it was the Stryker brigade’s first big combat operation after arriving in Iraq earlier in the month.

You can read stories about Thompson in

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There’s more about the battalion’s recent work in Baghdad’s Doura district in a Washington Times story this morning.

Attacks are down and the battalion has begun to put out contracts for reconstruction projects, although they know that the militias, the terrorists and the street gangs are demanding a cut from the Iraqis who win the jobs.

“It is accepting reality on the ground. The more realistic of us have always known it, that this is not a black and white place,” the 2-3 battalion commander, Lt. Col. Barry Huggins, told the Times.

I sent a note to Lt. Col. Barry Huggins asking for comment on his battalion’s losses over the last several days. He commands the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment – ”The Old Guard” – and has seen six of his men killed this past week by insurgent bombs in Baghdad.

Spc. Zachariah J. Gonzalez, Pfc. Charles T. Heinlein, Jr., and Pfc. Alfred H. Jairala were killed July 31. Staff Sgt. Fernando Santos, Spc. Cristian Rojas-Gallego and Spc. Eric D. Salinas died Aug. 2.

Huggins’ reply:

“It was a rough week; we are operating in parts of Baghdad

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Megan Rojas-Gallego called me Tuesday afternoon to take issue with information that I printed in this morning’s story about her husband, Spc. Cristian Rojas-Gallego, 24, one of three Stryker soldiers killed in a bombing Thursday in Baghdad.

I reported that the soldier’s brother had told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that after serving a hitch in the Marine Corps and then trying life as a civilian, he rejoined the military – the Army this time – because he hadn’t been able to make ends meet and Megan was expecting their third child.

That’s not how it was at all, Megan

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