AJC.com > Iraq coverage > Blog > Archives > 2005 > July > 25
Monday, July 25, 2005
Four in 48th killed in bomb attack
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the deadliest attack against Georgia’s citizen soldiers since they arrived in Iraq, four members of the 48th Brigade Combat team were killed Sunday in a roadside bomb attack, military officials said Monday.
Sunday’s deaths were the first combat fatalities for the Georgia Army National Guard unit, which arrived in the Middle East in mid-May for a yearlong deployment.
Jim Driscoll, spokesman for the Georgia National Guard in Atlanta, said officials were notifying the soldiers’ families Monday.
“I can confirm they were members of the 48th Brigade, but beyond that I don’t have the details,” Driscoll said.
Cathy Brunson told The Albany Herald that Army officials notified her Monday of the death of her son, Jacques “Gus” Brunson. She did not know her son’s rank.
“Unfortunately, I did not like to talk to him about this because I did not like the idea of him going,” she told the newspaper.
Brunson had two children, Kayla, 9, and Jake, 8.
A fifth soldier was injured in the blast and was being treated at a military hospital in Baghdad, according to a report by the Macon Telegraph.
The attack occurred about 7:30 p.m. Sunday (11:30 a.m. EDT) when a roadside bomb exploded near a Humvee that was part of a convoy conducting a regular patrol on Route Aeros, the Macon Telegraph reported.
Route Aeros is a two-lane, blacktop road that runs east-west through a rural area southwest of Baghdad. Infantry units with the 48th are responsible for patrolling that area. In the past, there have been numerous bombs along the road, and one unit has had at least four Bradley Fighting Vehicles disabled by them, although no one was seriously injured or killed in those explosions.
Iraqi and U.S. forces — including members of the 48th — recently teamed up for Operation Scimitar, an effort to clear the area of insurgents and bomb-making materials. Immediately after the operation, the number of incidents involving improvised explosive devices — the roadside bombs referred to as IEDs — decreased.
But Route Aeros is built up from the surrounding farmland, with soft, sloping shoulders, making it easy for insurgents to dig into the road and hide IEDs under the blacktop.
Two regular Army soldiers also were killed Sunday and another on Monday in bomb and mortar attacks, according to the independent Internet site icasualties.org that tracks U.S. and other coalition troop deaths in Iraq. Details of those incidents weren’t available.
Since the start of the year, 180 of the 340 U.S. combat casualties, or 52.9 percent, have been caused by roadside bombs.
Three other members of the 48th Brigade have died in noncombat vehicle accidents since the brigade was activated in January.
Sgt. Chad Mercer of Waycross died last month in Iraq when his Bradley Fighting Vehicle rolled over. Sgt. Charles Gillican of Brunswick died in May as the brigade was assembling in Kuwait. And Pfc. Carlton Newman of Landover, Md., who was attached to the brigade, died during training at Fort Stewart.
With more than 2,500 Georgians and nearly 2,000 citizen soldiers from other states, the 48th Brigade represents the largest overseas deployment of the Georgia Guard since World War II.
Staff writer Dave Hirschman contributed to this article.
Getting there is half the battle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ali Al-Salem Air Base, Kuwait — Iraq certainly isn’t the world’s most popular destination these days — I can think of a lot of folks who would give anything to get out — but who would have thought it would be so difficult to get a flight into Baghdad?
Photographer Bita Honarvar and I have been waiting in Kuwait to catch a military flight into Baghdad International Airport for almost a week.
Our first attempt Friday was foiled by luggage lost on the way in from Atlanta. We waited patiently several days while Air France and KLM searched for our missing bags and finally were able to return them to their rightful owners — us.
Saturday, we were put on standby. The flight was full.
We tried again Sunday morning, starting our journey at 1 a.m.. With no sleep that night, we traveled by bus on a lonely highway to Ali Al-Salem Air Base, about an hour’s drive from Kuwait City. We waited while our papers were processed; our bags checked by a bomb-sniffing dog that arrived late and then had to be excused for a bathroom break.
About 20 soldiers going back to Baghdad after leaves at home joined the two of us and a dozen federal employees and American contractors from various companies such as DynCorp International, which provides a variety of services to the government from security to base operations.
The soldiers entertained themselves by playing cards. Others found a corner to stretch out and make up for lost sleep. I watched the Yanks battle the A’s on a big-screen television set in a modest on-base entertainment facility. I never did find out who won the game.
As the sun rose and breakfast time came and went, U.S. Air Force soldiers trickled in to catch a game of pool and chat with their buddies.
Finally, at about 9 a.m., word came that the flight had been cancelled due to a blinding sandstorm in the Baghdad area.
With droopy eyes, we drove back to Kuwait City and waited for a Monday morning plane. Shortly before we were to leave, that flight, too, was cancelled. The C-17 had been loaded with armored cargo and could not take any more weight on board. Guess who got bumped?
We’re on our way back to the air base Monday night to try again. We are eager to reach Baghdad, meet the soldiers of the 48th Brigade Combat Team and begin our assignment.
We’re hoping the third time will be the charm.
The AJC’s year-long coverage of the 48th Brigade Combat Team at war continues with reporter Moni Basu and photographer Bita Honarvar. Both spent time with the unit during training in California earlier this year and are experienced journalists with a number of previous overseas assignments. Bita spent time in Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban and was in Iraq shortly after the end of major combat operations. Moni covered the devastating 2001 earthquake in India, traveled to Cuba in 2002 with former President Jimmy Carter, reported from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in late 2002 prior to the start of the war and teamed with Bita in 2003 for an examination of post-war Iraq.
