2 Hawaii soldiers killed in Iraq

STORY SUMMARY »

Two soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division, based at Schofield Barracks, have died in Iraq this week.

The Army says it is investigating the noncombat death of Pfc. Casey Carriker, 20, of Hoquiam, Wash.

The Associated Press and the Beatrice Daily Sun in Nebraska yesterday reported that Val John Borm, 21, an infantryman with the 25th Division, was killed in Kirkuk when a homemade bomb exploded near his Humvee this week.

Carriker and Borm are the 57th and 58th soldiers with Hawaii ties to die in Iraq since the United States invaded in March 2003.

The Army is investigating the noncombat death of a 20-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier, while a Nebraska father said his 21-year-old son, also a 25th Infantry Division soldier, was killed in combat in Iraq.

The Pentagon said yesterday that Pfc. Casey Carriker of Hoquiam, Wash., died Wednesday in Kirkuk from "a noncombat incident" but did not give any details.

Carriker had been a member of the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division since January 2006.

The Associated Press and the Beatrice Daily Sun in Nebraska reported yesterday that Val John Borm, an infantryman with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, was killed in Kirkuk when a homemade bomb exploded near his Humvee this week, his father, Larry Borm, told the newspaper.

Borm, 21, enlisted in the Army last year after graduating from high school in 2005, his father told the paper. He said his son enjoyed his Army service, liked to play computer games and was an avid paint ball competitor.

An Army spokeswoman at Schofield Barracks last night said she could not confirm the Nebraska newspaper report since nothing officially was announced by the Pentagon.

It was unknown whether Borm was among the four Task Force Lightning soldiers reported by the Associated Press as killed in Iraq on Thursday. The soldiers were not identified.

One Task Force Lightning soldier was killed by small-arms fire in Diyala province Thursday.

Also on Thursday, three other Task Force Lightning soldiers were killed as a result of injuries suffered in an explosion near their vehicle while conducting operations in Kirkuk province. Another soldier was wounded and transported to a coalition medical facility for treatment.

Task Force Lightning is the U.S. unit, commanded by Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, that includes 23,000 soldiers from his own 25th Infantry Division in northern Iraq, as well as the 2nd Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Division and 82nd Airborne Division.

Carriker's sister told the Star-Bulletin that her brother also enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school in 2005.

"He wanted to go to Iraq," she said. "He thought it would be an adventure."

Since the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003, 58 soldiers, three sailors, 79 Marines, two Air Force personnel and one civilian with Hawaii ties have been killed there.

Twenty-one soldiers from the 3rd Brigade have died since the unit was deployed to Iraq in August.