thedrifter
02-09-07, 06:16 AM
Sailors Among Victims
February 09,2007
Roselee Papandrea
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Navy corpsmen from Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point Air Station were among the seven troops killed Wednesday when a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crashed in Iraq, according to family and friends. Manuel Ruiz, 21, of Federalsburg, Md., a Navy paramedic assigned to Camp Lejeune, and Cherry Pointbased Gilbert Minjares of New Bern were among those who died when a CH-46 Sea Knight went down Wednesday in Anbar province east of Fallujah. Names of the victims have not been officially released by military officials, but they said the names included five Marines and two sailors. Information about others possibly involved in the incident was not available Thursday. Ruiz’ mother Lisa Ruiz described him as a “very outgoing” man who loved running. According to the Associated Press, he attended Col. Richardson High School, joined the Navy three years ago and was on his second tour in Iraq, she said. “I spoke with him last week,” she said. “He was saying how much he loved his job, what he was doing.” At Ruiz’ former high school, the news of his death was met with an immediate, stricken silence when it was announced over the school intercom Thursday. Many students at the small school enter the service after they graduate, and several others have friends and relatives who are shipping out to Iraq, school officials said. “He was just a wonderful young man who was excited when he graduated to be going to serve his country,” said Christine Handy-Collins, principal of the small school.
Ruiz, who graduated in 2003, had been back to the school several times in his dress whites on recruiting tours, said Marjorie Scott, his former art teacher.“The kids really respected him,” she said. But she remembered the young man they called “Manny” most for his talent as an artist. “When Manny would pick up a pencil and he would draw, there was so much feeling, so much emotion, so much power in his drawing — he could make a pencil and paper sing,” Scott said. Ruiz planned to continue his studies at the Art Institute of Washington after the service, Scott said. And on a visit last spring, he showed her photos of a mural he was painting on his barracks’ wall in Iraq.
Just arrived in Iraq Minjares, who was based at Cherry Point, deployed for Iraq on Jan. 31, neighbors and friends told the New Bern Sun Journal.
A native of El Paso, Texas, Minjares is survived by his wife, Jenny, and two children: 2-year-old Gilbert and infant Miranda, born just last month.
New Bern Alderman Max Freeze said Minjares was based at Cherry Point, having transferred from an assignment in Guam a little more than a year ago. He bought a house to renovate.
“He worked so hard on that house,” Freeze said. “He was
very much a family man.” Freeze described Minjares as an “all-around good guy” who was willing to help out. Bea Mayo, Freeze’s wife, said Minjares could be counted on to help move heavy objects for her.
Neighbor Linda Eubanks said Minjares put his medical
skills to use when her sister fell and broke her arm.
“I took her to the emergency room with a magazine wrapped
around her arm,” Eubanks said. “They said ‘where did you
learn to do that?’ I said, ‘My neighbor. He’s a medic.’” Eubanks said Minjares was proud of his Hispanic heritage,
had a deep love for country and family, and enjoyed cookouts
and listening to music. She said she hopes to establish a memorial fund in Minjares’ name through the State Employees’ Credit Union.
Cherry Point public affairs said he was unable to confirm that Minjares was stationed at the base or if other Cherry
Point personnel were involve in the crash.
Crash cause uncertain
The military reported the helicopter crashed Wednesday
about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad — the sixth American
aircraft reported lost in Iraq in just over two weeks.
A military statement did not give a cause for the crash, but
a senior U.S. defense official in Washington told the Associated Press the CH-46 Sea Knight did not appear to have been hit by hostile fire. An Iraqi air force officer, however, said the chopper was downed by an antiaircraft missile. An al-Qaida linked Sunni group claimed in a Web statement that it was responsible.
The string of recent shootdowns of Army and contractor
helicopters in Iraq signals a new and troubling “intensity of
effort” by insurgents, the commandant of the Marine Corps
said Thursday in an Associated Press report.
Gen. James Conway said that the Marines do not believe that
the CH-46 troop transport helicopter was shot down. He did
not elaborate, but other military officials said early indications
were that the CH-46 loss was due to mechanical failure.
Conway, speaking to a gathering of government executives
at a Washington hotel, said Marine troop transports generally
fly at an altitude that puts them out of range of small arms fire from the ground, and he said they have special equipment
on board that enables them to avoid being hit by the SA-7
that is the most frequently seen anti-aircraft missile among the insurgents.
“More troubling is the appearance of SA-16s and SA-
18s,” Conway said, referring to more modern, portable antiaircraft missiles. The SA-16, which is an improved version
of the SA-18, uses a more advanced infrared guidance system
and is effective at altitudes of up to about 10,000 feet.
He said it was not clear whether the SA-16s and SA-18s that are now appearing had been stored in bunkers from Saddam Hussein’s regime and overlooked by U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion, or are being brought into Iraq from neighboring countries.
Ellie
February 09,2007
Roselee Papandrea
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Navy corpsmen from Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point Air Station were among the seven troops killed Wednesday when a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crashed in Iraq, according to family and friends. Manuel Ruiz, 21, of Federalsburg, Md., a Navy paramedic assigned to Camp Lejeune, and Cherry Pointbased Gilbert Minjares of New Bern were among those who died when a CH-46 Sea Knight went down Wednesday in Anbar province east of Fallujah. Names of the victims have not been officially released by military officials, but they said the names included five Marines and two sailors. Information about others possibly involved in the incident was not available Thursday. Ruiz’ mother Lisa Ruiz described him as a “very outgoing” man who loved running. According to the Associated Press, he attended Col. Richardson High School, joined the Navy three years ago and was on his second tour in Iraq, she said. “I spoke with him last week,” she said. “He was saying how much he loved his job, what he was doing.” At Ruiz’ former high school, the news of his death was met with an immediate, stricken silence when it was announced over the school intercom Thursday. Many students at the small school enter the service after they graduate, and several others have friends and relatives who are shipping out to Iraq, school officials said. “He was just a wonderful young man who was excited when he graduated to be going to serve his country,” said Christine Handy-Collins, principal of the small school.
Ruiz, who graduated in 2003, had been back to the school several times in his dress whites on recruiting tours, said Marjorie Scott, his former art teacher.“The kids really respected him,” she said. But she remembered the young man they called “Manny” most for his talent as an artist. “When Manny would pick up a pencil and he would draw, there was so much feeling, so much emotion, so much power in his drawing — he could make a pencil and paper sing,” Scott said. Ruiz planned to continue his studies at the Art Institute of Washington after the service, Scott said. And on a visit last spring, he showed her photos of a mural he was painting on his barracks’ wall in Iraq.
Just arrived in Iraq Minjares, who was based at Cherry Point, deployed for Iraq on Jan. 31, neighbors and friends told the New Bern Sun Journal.
A native of El Paso, Texas, Minjares is survived by his wife, Jenny, and two children: 2-year-old Gilbert and infant Miranda, born just last month.
New Bern Alderman Max Freeze said Minjares was based at Cherry Point, having transferred from an assignment in Guam a little more than a year ago. He bought a house to renovate.
“He worked so hard on that house,” Freeze said. “He was
very much a family man.” Freeze described Minjares as an “all-around good guy” who was willing to help out. Bea Mayo, Freeze’s wife, said Minjares could be counted on to help move heavy objects for her.
Neighbor Linda Eubanks said Minjares put his medical
skills to use when her sister fell and broke her arm.
“I took her to the emergency room with a magazine wrapped
around her arm,” Eubanks said. “They said ‘where did you
learn to do that?’ I said, ‘My neighbor. He’s a medic.’” Eubanks said Minjares was proud of his Hispanic heritage,
had a deep love for country and family, and enjoyed cookouts
and listening to music. She said she hopes to establish a memorial fund in Minjares’ name through the State Employees’ Credit Union.
Cherry Point public affairs said he was unable to confirm that Minjares was stationed at the base or if other Cherry
Point personnel were involve in the crash.
Crash cause uncertain
The military reported the helicopter crashed Wednesday
about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad — the sixth American
aircraft reported lost in Iraq in just over two weeks.
A military statement did not give a cause for the crash, but
a senior U.S. defense official in Washington told the Associated Press the CH-46 Sea Knight did not appear to have been hit by hostile fire. An Iraqi air force officer, however, said the chopper was downed by an antiaircraft missile. An al-Qaida linked Sunni group claimed in a Web statement that it was responsible.
The string of recent shootdowns of Army and contractor
helicopters in Iraq signals a new and troubling “intensity of
effort” by insurgents, the commandant of the Marine Corps
said Thursday in an Associated Press report.
Gen. James Conway said that the Marines do not believe that
the CH-46 troop transport helicopter was shot down. He did
not elaborate, but other military officials said early indications
were that the CH-46 loss was due to mechanical failure.
Conway, speaking to a gathering of government executives
at a Washington hotel, said Marine troop transports generally
fly at an altitude that puts them out of range of small arms fire from the ground, and he said they have special equipment
on board that enables them to avoid being hit by the SA-7
that is the most frequently seen anti-aircraft missile among the insurgents.
“More troubling is the appearance of SA-16s and SA-
18s,” Conway said, referring to more modern, portable antiaircraft missiles. The SA-16, which is an improved version
of the SA-18, uses a more advanced infrared guidance system
and is effective at altitudes of up to about 10,000 feet.
He said it was not clear whether the SA-16s and SA-18s that are now appearing had been stored in bunkers from Saddam Hussein’s regime and overlooked by U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion, or are being brought into Iraq from neighboring countries.
Ellie