On This Day In Air Combat History

March 19

1916

• The first U.S. air combat mission begins as the First Aero Squadron takes off from Columbus, New Mexico, in an expedition to catch Pancho Villa.

Pancho Villa at 16

2003

• An American-led coalition lauches a war against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, with air strikes on Baghdad.

Hussein

Dale G. Brehm, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Dale G. Brehm, 23

Army, Sergeant

Based: Ft. Lewis, Wash.

2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: March 18, 2006

Ramadi, Iraq
Married
Gender: Male
Hometown: Turlock
High School: Turlock Adult School (Turlock)

Burial: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.

6 tours! Six tours!? You gave so much 2nd Bat. brother. So sorry you are gone. . Shedding a tear for you today.
Rangers lead the way!—

Gavin Grayson
May 31, 2010 at 5:39 p.m.

Sgt. Dale Brehm's thoughts were turning away from war in the desert last month toward a new home and the beginnings of a family.

The Army Ranger was on his sixth tour of duty in the Middle East, three in Afghanistan and three in Iraq. He had only two weeks to go before he was scheduled to rotate out of Iraq and only three months before he left the military behind and returned to civilian life.

On March 18, Brehm, a native of Turlock, Calif., and other members of his unit were attacked with small-arms fire in the town of Ramadi, about 70 miles west of Baghdad.

Brehm, 23, and Army Staff Sgt. Ricardo Barraza, 24, of Shafter, Calif., were killed in the fight. Both were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Brehm died three days short of his 24th birthday.

On Thursday, Brehm, with much of his immediate family in attendance, was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

In the aftermath of his death, Brehm's company commander, Maj. Jasper Jeffers, described him as someone who "demanded that the men around him give nothing less than 100% with every task."

In addition to his wife, of Steilacoom, Wash., his father and stepmother, he is survived by his mother, Laura Williams of Riverbank, Calif.

Read the entire article about Army Sergeant Dale G. Brehm here,

find more at Arlingtion Cemetery,

and Iraq/Afghanistan War Heroes,

find messages and remembrances at Fallen Heroes.

Visit Sergeant Brehm's Guest Book.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Army Staff Sergeant
Ricardo Barraza






Shabbat Shalom -- Purim Edition -- Maccabeats Purim Song

A Friend Writes From Japan

This morning the family packed their bags and were ready to evacuate to Iowa for the rest of the school year. I was staying until mandatory evacuation.

This afternoon the evacuation is on hold. Specifically, teachers are not leaving at this time and kids will go back to school soon. There is also some uplifting news today on the reactors.

I agree with not spending 35 million to evacuate under these conditions.

That's today's news from Yokosuka-shi Kanagawa, Japan.

Ricardo Barraza, Army, Staff Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Ricardo Barraza, 24

Army, Staff Sergeant

Based: Ft. Lewis, Wash.

2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: March 18, 2006

Ramadi, Iraq

Engaged

Gender: Male

Hometown: Shafter

High School: Shafter High (Shafter)

Burial: Hillcrest Memorial Park, Bakersfield

A true patriot, a funny dude and damn good Ranger...We all strived to follow his lead...

Rangers Lead The Way!

— Henry Garcia

August 18, 2008 at 4:51 p.m.

I served with Ricardo until October 2002. You couldn't find a better soldier or friend. Ricardo left this world doing what he loved to do. RLTW Ricky!!!

— Jason Richerson

September 7, 2008 at 2:15 a.m.

After six tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, Army Staff Sgt. Ricardo Barraza was scheduled to return home to Shafter, Calif., this month and to marry his fiancee in May.

Instead, Barraza, 24, was returned home for burial Friday at Bakersfield's Hillcrest Memorial Hill of Valor.

Barraza, a squad leader in the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Ft. Lewis, Wash., was killed by small-arms fire March 18 in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. Sgt. Dale G. Brehm, 23, of Turlock, Calif., who was wounded with him, died March 19.

"I am proud of my son; he will always be my hero," his mother, Nina Barraza, said through a family spokeswoman and friend, Donna Smith. Too heartbroken to speak, his mother, a grocery store clerk, and his Spanish-speaking father, Fransisco Barraza, a contractor, asked Smith and Shafter Police Chief John Anthony Zrofsky to speak for the family.

When Barraza came home on a furlough in October, his mother tried to talk him out of reenlisting, Zrofsky said. But he told her his duty was in Iraq with his men, the police chief said. Barraza returned to Iraq on Nov. 11 -- the last time his family saw him.

Barraza's death has shaken the residents of Shafter, a close-knit community of 14,000, Zrofsky said.

Barraza is the first soldier from Shafter to die in action since the Vietnam War, he said.

In addition to his parents, Barraza is survived by two sisters, Amanda and Rachel Barraza, both of Shafter; another sister, Jamie Barraza, and a brother, Frankie Barraza, both of Sunnyside, Wash.; and his fiancee, Maghan K. Harrington and her daughter, Kayla, of Lacey, Wash., according to the 75th Ranger Regiment.

Read the entire LA Times article about Army Staff Sergeant Ricardo Barraza here,

find more at Fallen Heroes

and at the Rangers Lead The Way page

and at Military Times.

Visit Sergeant Barraza's Guest Book.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sergeant Dale Gregory Michael Brehm

Signage We Don't Get Tired Of

Patti LaBelle.
It's true. 

And we always seem to find the sign. 

Both coasts -- and here in the middle. 

By the way, the band, security, John Stanley and Miss LaBelle were kind enough to allow me to sit through the afternoon rehearsal. Ninety-some minutes of perfection.

Next up: the show itself.

Loren Miles Buffalo, Army, Corporal -- Rest In Peace

Loren Miles Buffalo, 20

Army, Corporal

1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment,

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault),

Fort Campbell, KY.

Died March 9, 2011

Kandahar Province, Afghanistan

Operation Enduring Freedom

U.S. Army Corporal Loren Miles Buffalo, of Mountain Pine, Arkansas, was killed Wednesday, March 9, 2011, in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Buffalo, 20, died of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, KY.

Survivors include his father, Cecil M. Buffalo, of Mountain Pine, and his mother, Anjanette D. Buffalo of West Bend, WI, siblings Legend Beck, Lane Buffalo, Dalton Wetherinton, and Kori Wetherington, as well as grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Buffalo joined the Army in May, 2009.

Graveside services will be 11 a.m. Friday, March 18, 2011, at Arkansas State Veterans Cemetary.

Memorial services will be 1 pm. Saturday at Harvey Chapel Baptist Church, 2515 Mountain Pine Road.

Find more about Army Corporal Loren Miles Buffalo here,
at Freedom Remembered, Military Times
and visit Corporal Buffalo's Guest Book

Army Cpl. Loren M. Buffalo

A transfer case containing the remains of Army Cpl. Loren M. Buffalo sits on a loader during a prayer, Friday, March 11, 2011 at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Buffalo, 20, of Mountain Pine, Ark., died March 9, 2011 in Kandahar province of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Randal Kent Rosacker, Marines, Corporal -- Rest In Peace

Randal Kent Rosacker, 21

Marines, Corporal
Based: Camp Lejeune, N.C.
1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment,
II Marine Expeditionary Brigade
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: March 23, 2003
Nasiriya, Iraq
Married
Gender: Male
Hometown: San Diego
High School: Serra High (San Diego)
Burial: Colorado State Veterans Center, Homelake, Colo

He was a rough-and-tumble athlete who loved the outdoors and playing war games with his cousins. From a young age, Randal Kent Rosacker knew he wanted to follow his father into the military.


So when the elder Rosacker saw the Marines approaching his home in Bremerton, Wash., he knew what the news would be.


"I had a good idea where my son was at," Rod Rosacker, command master chief on the U.S. submarine Alabama, said Tuesday. "When the Marines walked up to the front door, that pretty much answered it for me."

The younger Rosacker, who grew up in San Diego, knew at age 10 that he wanted to join the military. The father tried to discourage his son from enlisting immediately after high school, urging him to pursue his athletic talents in college instead.

"I tried talking him out of it, but he was too anxious. He didn't want to wait," said Rosacker, who has been in the Navy for 18 years and lives with his wife, Debra.

...

Toni Rosacker said Tuesday that she and her sister Samantha, 21, were sad, but also proud of their brother. She said that the family had received several letters from Randal, some written on food packaging. "In his last letter, he just told us how much he loved us," she said.

The young Marine's grandmother, Patricia Rosacker, said her only grandson always wanted to be like his father. "Because his dad was in the military, he pretty much always knew that's what he wanted to do," Rosacker said from her home in Alamosa, Colo.

Be sure to read the entire LA Times article about Marine Corporal Randal Kent Rosacker which begins with the story of Jorge Alonso Gonzalez. Find more at Fallen Heroes and Military Times and at the Durango Herald. Visit Corporal Randal Kent Rosacker's Guest Book.

Brooke Rosacker, widow of Marine Cpl. Randal Kent Rosacker, center, mourns with the the fallen soldier’s sisters, Samantha, left, and Antoinette, on Friday at the First United Methodist Church in Alamosa.

Trig Palin At The Shore With His Mom

Picture from THR.

Smitty Meets Arkansas Principal in Afghanistan

Smitty reports from Bagram:

You Never Know Whom You’ll Run Into

Ran into a Navy Reserve Senior Chief after I’d done my business, out having a coke, a smoke, and a smile. He’d served in Iraq, too, but had just arrived in Afghanistan, and could not make comparisons. Lots of Navy Reserves here, like me. Talk turns to where you’re from and what you do. The guy is a high school principal somewhere in Arkansas. Has he been following the Formidable Ann Althouse on Wisconsin? No, but he feels Walker’s pain. It takes him three years of documentation to expunge a lousy teacher, and the bureaucratic costs are non-trivial, in addition to the time.

God speed, Mr. Smith.
Read it all here.
Yeah, we look for Arkansas news from around the world.

Angelo A. Zawaydeh, Army, Private 1st Class -- Rest In Peace

Angelo A. Zawaydeh, 19

Army, Private 1st Class
Based: Ft. Campbell, Ky.
2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: March 15, 2006
Baghdad (southwest of), Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: San Bruno
High School: Terra Nova High (Pacifica)
Burial: Greek Orthodox Memorial Park, Colma, Calif.

From the LA Times:

When Angelo Zawaydeh of San Bruno, Calif., first told his parents that he wanted to join the military, they refused.

Not only were they worried about the dangers of their teenage son going to war, but they also had concerns about Zawaydeh, whose father is Jordanian, participating in a Middle Eastern war.

When Zawaydeh first brought up the idea to his parents when he was 16, the answer was simple, said his mother, April Bradreau. But two years later, he made his own decision. When he joined the Army, she said, "we asked, 'Why didn't you go to college?' And he said, 'I can't sit in the classroom anymore. I need to get up and do something.' "

On March 15, the private first class was manning a machine gun atop a tank at a Baghdad traffic control point when he was killed by a mortar shell that struck him in the neck.


Kevin Campos said his best friend, a graduate of Terra Nova High School in Pacifica, Calif., and others had vowed to enlist after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "We decided that America was worth fighting for," Campos said. "We thought if we're going to live in this country and raise our families here, we had to do something before we started our lives."

But Bradreau, who with her husband, Akram Zawaydeh, received the news of their son's death on the eve of their 21st wedding anniversary, said her son had grown disillusioned with the war over time. "He thought we could let them [the Iraqis] fight their own battles from now on over there," she said.

Bradreau remembered her son as a respectful young man who always was willing to lend a helping hand.

"He died like he lived," she said. "He gave his life for others."

Find more about Army Private 1st Class Angelo A. Zawaydeh at SFGate 

and at St. Thomas More Church and Military Times and find remembrances and messages at 

Fallen Heroes. 

Visit Private Zawaydeh's Guest Book.

Trig Palin With His Mom

Signage We Like -- Ted Nugent Files

Hot Springs, Arkansas, 2011

All Photos courtesy of Contento, Ltd.

Adam J. Rosema, Army, Specialist -- Rest In Peace

Adam J. Rosema, 27

Army, Specialist
Based: Ft. Hood, Texas
215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: March 14, 2007
Baqubah, Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Pasadena
High School: Arcadia High (Arcadia)
Burial: Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier

Adam is my nephew , and was a very nice young man, he died way too early and America owes him and all others who died in iraq much thanks for their sacrifices. We don't need to be in these wars, let these people live their caveman lives and bring our boys home. We need to protect our own borders, not theirs. Adam will be missed by many, Love forever, uncle jack & family

— Jack Rosema
October 15, 2010 at 7:43 a.m.

Rosema joined the Army in April 2005. He went to Ft. Knox, Ky., for basic and specialty training in mechanics, then transferred to Ft. Hood, Texas, where he was a specialist assigned to the 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division as a mechanic on Bradley fighting vehicles.

Last October, Rosema was deployed to Iraq, stopping first in Kuwait and then going to Camp Warhorse in Baqubah, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.

On March 14, Rosema -- who was working at Camp Warhorse as a mechanic repairing Bradleys and Humvees -- volunteered to go on a routine mission to recover a vehicle that had been disabled during a battle.

Soon after leaving the base, however, his truck struck a roadside bomb.

"He was killed immediately," his father said, adding that his son died two months short of his 28th birthday. "It's a great godsend to me that he died quickly and doing what he wanted.

"He was quite happy with his job. The last time we talked, he indicated he was getting ready to reenlist. He had no complaints. He thought he was doing good for the country.... I was very proud of him. I am very proud of him."

Rosema, who was buried March 26 at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

Read the entire LA Times article about

Army Specialist Adam J. Rosema here,

find more at Spread The Word and Military Times

and find pictures at Task Force Lightning.

Visit Specialist Rosema's Guest Book.

First Sergeant Milton Isaac conducts the Ceremonial Roll Call
for his fallen soldier Specialist Adam J. Resema.



Who Loves Ya?

Good Shepherd Night Light

Photography: Contento, Ltd.

Joel K. Brattain, Army, Private 1st Class -- Rest In Peace

Joel K. Brattain, 21

Army, Private 1st Class

Based: Ft. Bragg, N.C.

1st Battalion, 504th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: March 13, 2004

Baghdad (southeast area), Iraq

Married

Gender: Male

Hometown: Yorba Linda

High School: Esperanza High (Anaheim)

Burial: Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, Orange

Snowboarding, skateboarding and just being kids. As a friend it hurts to know I'll never see him again, but he truly is a hero and he won't be forgotten.

— Sean Viele

Last March, Joel Brattain joined the Army and became a paratrooper. Last fall, he married his high school sweetheart, Andrea Del Campo, on the sand in Laguna Beach. In January, he shipped off to Iraq. "It was a maturing process," his brother said. "He had gone off adventuring and this and that, and it was time for him to mature. He was becoming a man."

On March 13, Army Pfc. Joel K. Brattain, 21, and two other soldiers --  Staff Sgt. Clint D. Ferrin and Sgt. Daniel J. Londono -- were killed in Baghdad when their vehicle was struck by the blast of a roadside explosive.

Kris Brattain said his brother's decision to join the Army probably was driven both by pragmatism and patriotism. "First and foremost, he loved Andrea. He really wanted to provide for her," he said.

But also, "9/11 touched him like it touched everybody," he said, pointing out that his brother had graduated months before the terrorist attacks. "When you become 18 and you're out of school, I think your eyes open to the world, and you ask yourself, 'What am I going to do with my life?' "

Being a paratrooper was a logical step for someone who loved adventure and the outdoors, his brother said. "He wasn't going to be a computer technician," Kris Brattain said. "He was a paratrooper. He had his wings and he loved it."

He said he would miss a brother who tagged along with him for much of his life. "He was my little brother, and we were close our whole lives," Kris Brattain said. "He didn't let things get to him, because you come to find out life is short. He lived life to the fullest."

In addition to his wife and brother, Brattain is survived by his father, Gary; his mother, Elaine Clark; and a 9-year-old half brother, Brandon Clark.

Read the entire LA Times article about Army Private 1st Class Joel K. Brattain here, find more at Fallen Heroes and Military Times and the War Heroes Page, visit Private Brattain's Guest Book and go to Wall Dads for more pictures and stories about Joel K. Brattain.

Joel K. Brattain

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Daniel J. Londono

Clint D. Ferrin

Saturday Honky Tonk -- Dwight Yoakam -- Intentional Heartache

Rick, Ray & Joe -- Yokosuka-shi, Kanagawa, Japan

At the Reagan Library
February, 2010

Photo by Contento, Ltd.

Jorge Alonso Gonzalez, Marines, Corporal -- Rest In Peace

Jorge Alonso Gonzalez, 20

Marines, Corporal
Based: Camp Lejeune, N.C.
1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, II Marine Expeditionary Brigade
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: March 23, 2003
Nasiriya, Iraq
Married, 1 child
Gender: Male
Hometown: El Monte
High School: El Monte High (El Monte)
Burial: Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego

From Military Times:

For most military families, the grieving begins with a knock on the door. For the Gonzalez family of Rialto, Calif., the news of their son’s death came as a jolt from the television screen.

Cpl. Jorge Gonzalez was among nine Marines killed March 23 when Iraqis, feigning surrender, hit the armored personnel carrier he was riding near An Nasiriyah.

Later that day, his parents, Mario and Rosa Gonzalez, were watching clips from the Arab network Al-Jazeera on the Spanish-language station, Telemundo, when they saw the corpse of a U.S. serviceman.

“When I saw the face, it was that of my son,” Rosa Gonzalez told Los Angeles television station KMEX. The next day, Marine officers came to confirm the bad news.

Gonzalez, 20, one of five children, enlisted after graduating from El Monte High School. He told his mother: “Don’t worry, mom. If I die a Marine, I’ll die honored.”


His wife, Jazty, had given birth to their first child, Alonso, on March 3 at Camp Lejeune, N.C., after Gonzalez shipped out to the Mideast.


He hoped to finish his hitch in the Marines next year and become a policeman.


His last letter home, received March 25, included a message for the son he never saw: “If you can wait just a little, I’ll see you in the summer if God wants it.”

— USA Today, Associated Press

Read the LA Times article about Marine Corporal Jorge Alonso Gonzalez here, find Corporal Gonzalez on this page and at Freedom Remembered and visit Corporal Gonzalez's Guest Book.

Shabbat Shalom