thedrifter
09-08-06, 08:14 AM
Slain isle soldier's dad favors Iraq withdrawal
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com
The father of the 18-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier who was killed in Iraq this week believes the United States needs to get out of there.
James Shank told the St. Louis Post Dispatch last night, "We have boys dying for some unguided reason."
The Pentagon confirmed yesterday the death of his son, Pfc. Jeremy R. Shank, an infantry soldier with the 25th Infantry Division who was killed Wednesday in Iraq while on patrol.
Shank is the 14th soldier from the 25th Division to die in Iraq since March 2003, when the United States invaded the country.
The 13 other division deaths occurred two years ago, the first time the division sent soldiers to Iraq.
Shank, 18, of Jackson, Mo., died in Balad of injuries suffered in Hawijah, 150 miles north of Baghdad, when he encountered enemy forces using small arms, a Pentagon news release said. He was assigned to the 25th Division's 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. He enlisted in the Army in May 2005 and was assigned to Schofield Barracks in October.
The elder Shank told the St. Louis newspaper, "We need to be out of there." He said his son told him as much in angry e-mails and a last phone call in late August.
He was supposed to be home on leave in November.
"He was in a rebellious period and wanted to get out of the house," James Shank said, "but he was proud to be a soldier. It was what he wanted to do. ... He was a hell of a kid."
Nearly 7,500 Schofield Barracks soldiers are now on a year-long deployment in Iraq. Thirty-two soldiers, two sailors, 55 Marines, one Air Force personnel and one civilian with Hawaii ties have been killed in Iraq since the war started on March 19, 2003. Fifty-six of the 91 deaths in Iraq were Marines, and 14 were soldiers from Schofield Barracks.
Ellie
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com
The father of the 18-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier who was killed in Iraq this week believes the United States needs to get out of there.
James Shank told the St. Louis Post Dispatch last night, "We have boys dying for some unguided reason."
The Pentagon confirmed yesterday the death of his son, Pfc. Jeremy R. Shank, an infantry soldier with the 25th Infantry Division who was killed Wednesday in Iraq while on patrol.
Shank is the 14th soldier from the 25th Division to die in Iraq since March 2003, when the United States invaded the country.
The 13 other division deaths occurred two years ago, the first time the division sent soldiers to Iraq.
Shank, 18, of Jackson, Mo., died in Balad of injuries suffered in Hawijah, 150 miles north of Baghdad, when he encountered enemy forces using small arms, a Pentagon news release said. He was assigned to the 25th Division's 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. He enlisted in the Army in May 2005 and was assigned to Schofield Barracks in October.
The elder Shank told the St. Louis newspaper, "We need to be out of there." He said his son told him as much in angry e-mails and a last phone call in late August.
He was supposed to be home on leave in November.
"He was in a rebellious period and wanted to get out of the house," James Shank said, "but he was proud to be a soldier. It was what he wanted to do. ... He was a hell of a kid."
Nearly 7,500 Schofield Barracks soldiers are now on a year-long deployment in Iraq. Thirty-two soldiers, two sailors, 55 Marines, one Air Force personnel and one civilian with Hawaii ties have been killed in Iraq since the war started on March 19, 2003. Fifty-six of the 91 deaths in Iraq were Marines, and 14 were soldiers from Schofield Barracks.
Ellie