Hawaii guardsman
killed by car bomb

The unnamed soldier is the first
island-born casualty in the Guard

The day Gov. Linda Lingle dreaded has arrived.

"Since I stood at Aloha Stadium in October of last year when all the members of the (National) Guard, gathered with their families in the stands, I dreaded the thought that I know this day would come because it was unlikely that the 29th would make it through more than a year of deployment and not have anybody lose their lives," Lingle told reporters yesterday.

Yesterday, Lingle was informed by Maj. Gen. Bob Lee, head of the Hawaii Army and Army National Guard, that one of his soldiers from Hawaii had been killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad near Logistic Support Area Anaconda where soldiers of the 29th Brigade's 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry are located.

Lee declined to identify the soldier until the Pentagon released the information.

"It's a very sad day for the family," Lingle told reporters yesterday. "It's a very sad day for Hawaii. As commander in chief of the Guard, I am touched very deeply by this."

This was the first island-born reservist killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since the Hawaii Army National Guard and the Pacific Army Reserve started sending soldiers there two years ago.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, in a statement of condolence, said the 20-year-old soldier from Hawaii was a member of the 29th Brigade Combat Team.

Lee said the three other 29th Brigade Combat Team soldiers who were injured in the car blast are not from the islands.

Although the 29th Brigade Combat Team is based in Hawaii, it has units from California, Minnesota and Oregon assigned during its year-long tour in Iraq.

Family and friends say the dead soldier is a member of the 229th Military Intelligence Company, which belongs to the 29th Brigade. The unit is commanded by Capt. Michael Desmond.

The soldier, friends say, was single and was returning from the village of Al Shyabi, where soldiers had done searches of vehicles and houses with members of Charlie Company, 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry.

The soldier's vehicle reportedly was the second in a three-vehicle convoy when the homemade bomb was detonated at about 1 p.m. yesterday.

"In Hawaii we are ohana, and the death of this 20-year-old local soldier is like a death in each of our own families," Inouye said in his statement. "While Americans may have different opinions regarding our presence in Iraq, I believe we are all united in support of our troops, who, without hesitation or fear, willingly serve in harm's way.

"I extend my heartfelt condolences to this brave soldier's family, friends and fellow soldiers who had the privilege of serving with him."

U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka said he wanted to extend his aloha and sympathy to the soldier's family. "We are so proud of our boys and the sacrifices they are making for our country," he said.

Maj. Gen. Eric Olson lost 28 soldiers during the 25th Infantry Division's combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We always mourn when we lose any soldier, especially a soldier from Hawaii," he said.

Olson, who stepped down earlier this month as commanding general of the 25th Division, added that "everything I've heard is that they are doing a tremendous job there. This is just a sad, sad thing. We hope that soldiers there continue on with the mission and the folks back here continue to support them the way that they have."

The death will probably weigh heavily as the Hawaii Army National Guard holds a ceremony this morning in Pearl City to honor soldiers of Bravo Company, 193rd Aviation, and Hawaii Air Guard personnel from the 154th Wing and the 201st Combat Communications Groups, which spent all of last year in Afghanistan.

Through yesterday, 22 soldiers, two sailors, 42 Marines and one civilian with Hawaii ties have been killed in Iraq since the war started on March 19, 2003.

Earlier this month the 100th Battalion reported that it had awarded 28 Purple Heart medals for wounds its soldiers received while patrolling the Balad area.