R.I.P. Justin Schmidt
R.I.P. Justin Schmidt 4-28-04
well...today wuz not the best of dayz...first of all i didn't feel good...so then i come home to my aunt screaming...and i find out wat happened...
Iraq Update:
Eight 1st Armored Division soldiers killed by car bomb near Baghdad
From staff and wire reports
European edition, Friday, April 30, 2004
Eight soldiers from a Germany-based 1st Armored Division unit were killed Thursday when a car bomb exploded as the soldiers cleared a road of explosives south of Baghdad, military officials said.
The bombing that killed the eight 1st AD soldiers happened at 11:30 a.m. near the town of Mahmoudiyah, where the team was removing roadside bombs from a key highway south of the capital, officials said in a statement. A driver in a station wagon neared the team then “detonated an explosive device,” killing eight soldiers and wounding four, the statement said.
“I can confirm that the eight 1st Armored Division soldiers who perished today (in Iraq) are Germany-based soldiers,” Michael Tolzmann, a spokesman for U.S. Army Europe, told Stars and Stripes.
Before any more information is released, including the soldiers’ units, Tolzmann said the command was awaiting an announcement by the Defense Department and for the families of those killed to be properly notified. “Our command sends its sincere and heartfelt condolences to the surviving families.”
“I can tell you that the soldiers were part of a task force that was making the roads in the area safe for citizens and pilgrims to the holy sites in the area by clearing the roads of IEDs,” Maj. David Gercken, the 1st AD public affairs officer in Baghdad, told Stars and Stripes in an e-mail. “This effort will be on-going. A vehicle approached the soldiers and the driver detonated the vehicle as soon as he was close enough to inflict damage.”
In addition to the eight 1st AD soldiers, two other U.S. servicemembers and a South African civilian were killed in attacks Thursday throughout Iraq.
“As you can imagine, this has been a hard day for us and our thoughts and prayers are with the soldiers and their families,” Gercken said.
The 1st Armored Division was to return to their home base in Germany under their original deployment orders. The division’s departure was blocked by the Pentagon and the unit was ordered to remain in Iraq for 90 days, after this month’s surge in violence. Soldiers who had already returned to Germany were ordered back to Iraq.
“I think it does a disservice to the soldiers and more importantly their families to infer that this would not have happened had the deployment not been extended,” Gercken said. “Their sacrifice and the work they were accomplishing is too important to be covered up by speculation on what might have happened.”
Earlier Thursday, another U.S. soldier from the Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade attack on his patrol in eastern Baghdad, military officials said.
A U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy outside the city of Baqouba, 24 miles north of the capital, officials said.
Also Thursday, a military convoy was attacked in western Baghdad, setting a large cargo truck on fire. There was no immediate word on casualties from the attack.
The deaths raise to 126 the number of U.S. servicemembers killed in combat in April, the bloodiest month for U.S. forces in Iraq. The military announced that another soldier died in a vehicle accident in western Baghdad. At least 736 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. Up to 1,200 Iraqis also have been killed this month.
so it realli hurtz cuz he wuz like a friggen brother to me and my cousins...and the fact that sum iraqi bitchez have to be gay and do friggen shitty ass car bombs...how fucking gay can you get!...i swear to god i hate shit head iraqi's....my cousin doesn't even know his best friend iz dead...i feel so badd
so if you could...please keep Justin Schmidt in your prayers...cuz he realli is a sweet guy and he didnt deserve this shit...
ill update with a pic of him later