IRAQ: U.S. SOLDIERS TAKE PART IN MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR 15 OF THEIR COMRADES KILLED WHEN THEIR HELICOPTER WAS SHOT DOWN

Record ID: 584779

  • Title: IRAQ: U.S. SOLDIERS TAKE PART IN MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR 15 OF THEIR COMRADES KILLED WHEN THEIR HELICOPTER WAS SHOT DOWN
  • Date: 8th November 2003
  • Summary: (W6) AYN ALSAD, 180 KM WEST OF BAGHDAD, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 6, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SCU DEAD SOLDIERS IDENTITY DISCS HANGING FROM INVERTED RIFLES ON LORRY; SCU SOLDIERS BOOTS; SLV U.S. FLAG FLYING BEHIND DEAD SOLDIERS HELMETS (3 SHOTS) 0.21 2. 0SLV / MV PEOPLE SITTING AT SERVICE 0.29 3. (SOUNDBITE)(English) UNIDENTIFIED U.S. OFFICER SAYING "In honouring these Americans we are reminded of the great blessings of freedom, a blessing that was their birthright. Their lives were lived in freedom, their deaths were in the cause of freedom. These Americans were all soldiers." 0.51 4. MV SOLDIER HOLDING FLAG;; SLV SERVICE AS NAMES ARE READ OUT; MILITARY SALUTE; SLV BUGLE CALL SOUNDS (9 SHOTS) 1.59 5. SLV MILITARY PERSONNEL GRIEVING DEAD SOLDIERS; MV U.S. ARMY SERGEANT FIRST CLASS PAUL BUMGARNER TALKING TO REPORTERS (6 SHOTS) 2.34 6. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. ARMY SERGEANT FIRST CLASS PAUL BUMGARNER SAYING "I was on the second plane, the second bird that was behind the one that was shot down. We landed and those of us that were on that bird got out and and rendered aid to those that were still alive in there. We helped carry people out of the wreckage. We helped give them first aid and we did everything that we were taught as soldiers to do." 2.57 7. SCU REPORTER LISTENING PAN (SOUNDBITE)(English) BUMGARNER SAYING "No, this will be one of those days that I will never forget." 3.06 8. SLV STARS AND STRIPES FLYING BEHIND DEAD SOLDIERS HELMETS 3.11 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 23rd November 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: AYN ALSAD, 180 KM WEST OF BAGHDAD, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVA7YN1995389KQ5O18BSE8BPBXW
  • Story Text: Soldiers in Iraq have taken part in a memorial
    service for 15 of their comrades killed when their
    helicopter was shot down.

    Against a backdrop of 15 helmets resting on M-16
    assault rifles, U.S. soldiers in Iraq on Thursday (November
    6) honoured comrades who died when guerrillas shot down
    their CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter on Sunday
    (November 2).

    At a memorial service at an air base at Ayn Alsad in
    northwest Iraq, commanders read out the names of the 15 men
    and women who were killed in the single deadliest attack on
    U.S. forces since the invasion last March to oust Saddam
    Hussein.

    Behind them, the rifles stood in a row on two flatbed
    trucks, bayonets speared into a long wooden block, helmets
    balanced on the butts. Fifteen pairs of dust-coloured army
    boots were neatly laid out in front.

    The downing of the helicopter by a shoulder-fired
    missile brought home to many Americans, both at home and
    fighting in Iraq, the daily danger faced by the troops
    here.

    An officer speaking at the service said, "In honouring
    these Americans we are reminded of the great blessings of
    freedom, a blessing that was their birthright. Their lives
    were lived in freedom, their deaths were in the cause of
    freedom. These Americans were all soldiers."
    Seven soldiers fired three live rounds each into the
    night sky as several hundred mourners, gathered at a dusty
    soccer field inside the Rifles Base, 180 km (112 miles)
    northwest of Baghdad, looked on.

    Many of the soldiers kept their emotions in check until
    the end, when they broke off in small clusters to salute
    the rifles. Many embraced. Some wept for the dead, who came
    from the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment.

    Sergeant First Class Paul Bumgarner from Logan, Utah,
    who was on a second Chinook following the one shot down
    said, "I was on the second plane, the second bird that was
    behind the one that was shot down." He said he felt blessed
    as it was only by accident that he was not on the downed
    helicopter. We landed and those of us that were on that
    bird got out and and rendered aid to those that were still
    alive in there," said Bumgarner adding, "This will be one
    of those days that I will never forget."
    The dead troops were among 50 on two Chinooks taking
    soldiers to Baghdad where they were headed out for a rest
    and recreation break. At least 20 soldiers were wounded.

    Guerrillas brought down the Chinook near the town of
    Falluja, a hotbed of hatred towards the United States and
    resistance towards the occupying forces in the so-called
    Sunni Muslim triangle to the north and west of Baghdad.

    The downing of the Chinook marked the second deadliest
    day overall for Americans in Iraq since the war began on
    March 20. Twenty-eight soldiers died in various attacks on
    March 23.

    Military officers say many surface to air missiles are
    missing from old Iraqi military stocks and suspect a large
    proportion of them are now in the hands of their enemies.

    At least 139 U.S. troops have been killed by enemy
    action since U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end
    to major combat more than during the invasion itself.


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