ARMY PHOTO Command Sgt. Maj. Harold Estabrooks, left, helped 100th Battalion commander Lt. Col. Colbert Low case the unit's battle colors in Iraq on Monday in preparation for the unit's return to Hawaii.

Attack in Iraq targets 100th Battalion camp

Even as soldiers of Hawaii's 100th Battalion packed up its combat flag this week as they prepared to return home, their base camp near Balad came under mortar attack.

The attack occurred Monday just after 100th Battalion Sgt. Maj. Harold Estabrooks and Lt. Col. Colbert Low, the commanding general of the 700-member unit, rolled up and stored the unit's flag at Logistical Support Area Anaconda, 50 miles north of Baghdad. No one was injured.

The flag, which was carried throughout World War II, will be uncased in Hawaii when the last soldiers return home.

More 100th Battalion members are expected back this week, starting with 221 members of Echo Company from Guam and Saipan, and Oahu soldiers of Headquarters & Headquarters Company tonight.

Tomorrow at 10 p.m., another 124 members of Charlie Company, which is from American Samoa, will touch down at Hickam Air Force Base on a chartered commercial jet.

Mobilized on Aug. 15, 2004, the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry worked under the control of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division out of LSA Anaconda.

Nearly 200 Oahu and Hilo members of the 100th Battalion will be honored at a special ceremony on Jan. 12 at Schofield Barracks' Smith Theater. Similar recognition ceremonies for other 100th Battalion soldiers will be held Feb. 4 on Guam, Feb. 5 on Saipan and March 11 on American Samoa.

Also, the main body of Hawaii Army National Guard soldiers from the 29th Brigade Combat Team are expected to return in mid-January.