NEW YORK - The commander of the New York Army National Guard's 1st Battalion 69th Infantry Regiment will honor eight Louisiana Army National Guard members who were killed in action while serving with the New York unit in Iraq 10 years ago on Saturday at a ceremony in Houma, Louisiana.
Six of the Soldiers, all members of the Houma, Louisiana-based Company C. 2nd Battalion 156th Infantry, were killed on Jan. 6, 2005, when their Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Baghdad.
The other two Louisiana Soldiers were killed later in 2005 while serving with the 69th Infantry on "Route Irish," the road from Baghdad International Airport to Baghdad's "Green Zone" which the New York Army National Guard battalion was responsible for securing for much of 2005.
Lt. Col. Sean Flynn and other members of the 69th Infantry will lay a memorial wreath outside the Louisiana National Guard unit's armory in Houma on Saturday to commemorate their deaths.
The 69th Infantry served in Iraq as part of Louisiana's 256th Brigade Combat Team and Company C, 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry, had been assigned to the New York battalion to provide a Bradley equipped company. The unit was dubbed "Task Force Wolfhound" after the official mascot of the 69th Infantry.
"Though we came from other parts of the country, the Soldiers of the 69th Infantry and the 256th Brigade became brothers during our tour in Iraq," Flynn said.
"This memorial event allows us to demonstrate our respect for the men who made the ultimate sacrifice with Task Force Wolfhound and to strengthen the bonds of camaraderie that were first forged in war," he added.
Flynn, a resident of Albany, New York, commanded a rifle company during the battalion's Iraq deployment and took command of the battalion in 2014. He also served in Afghanistan.
The Louisiana Army National Guard Soldiers killed in the Jan. 6, 2005, attack on the Bradley were Sgt. 1st Class Kurt Comeux and Sgts. Christopher Babin, Armand "Luke" Frickey, Bradley Bergeron, Warren Murphy, and Huey Fassbender.
Also killed in that incident was New York Army National Guard Sgt. Kenneth Von Ronn, a medic from the 69th Infantry's Headquarters Company. Von Ronn was honored with a separate wreath-laying in Liberty, New York, on January 6, 2015.
The other two Louisiana Soldiers killed while serving alongside the New Yorkers were Sgt. Paul Heltzel, who died on March 16, 2005, after insurgents attacked his vehicle section with two vehicle borne improvised explosive devices, and Sgt. 1st Class Peter Hahn, who was killed by small arms fire on May 24, 2005.
The Houma wreath-laying is part of a year-long series of memorials the that 69th Infantry has scheduled to commemorate the deaths of nineteen Soldiers during the units deployment to Iraq in 2004-2005. Another 78 Soldiers were wounded.
"The purpose of the ten year anniversary memorial events is to demonstrate the respect of a grateful nation for the service of 69th Soldiers who have died, and to offer support, healing and renewal for the living, including our Gold Star Families, comrades, and friends," Flynn explained.
Nineteen Soldiers died while serving with the 69th Infantry in Iraq in 2004-2005 and 78 were wounded.
While the 1st Battalion 69th Infantry is headquartered at the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City, Army National Guard Soldiers from the Capital Region, Long Island, Buffalo and the Hudson Valley served with the unit in Iraq.
The 69th Infantry leadership chose to remember all eight Soldiers this month because it coincided with the worst single-day loss of life for Louisiana Soldiers serving with the 69th, Flynn explained.
The battalion began remembrance ceremonies November 7, 2014 with an annual dinner that normally commemorates the unit's WWII battles. This year the battalion welcomed Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and highlighted the tenth anniversary of their deployment to Iraq.
Other memorials were held November 29, 2014, for Staff Sgt. Christian Engeldrum and Pfc. WIlfredo Urbina of Company A, December 1, 2014 for Sgt. David Fisher of Company D, and December 3 for Staff Sgt. Henry Irizarry of Headquarters Company.
The unit's commemorations continue through 2015, including honors for Gold Star Families at the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 17, 2015. The battalion has led the city-wide parade for 164 years.
New York Soldiers attending the event Saturday will also include retired Col. Geoff Slack, who commanded the 69th Infantry in 2004-05, Lt. Col. Chris Daniels, the operations officer for the Troy-based 42nd Infantry Division and the 69th Infantry headquarters company commander in Iraq, Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Seifert, the senior enlisted advisor for the Camp Smith Training Site and former platoon sergeant in Iraq, Sgt. Maj. Frank Tooker, the battalion's operations sergeant major and a company first sergeant in Iraq and Michael Drew, former commander of Company A in 2004-05.
The 1st Battalion 69th Infantry, nicknamed "The Fighting 69th," is one of the most famous units in the Army National Guard. Organized in the 1850s, the New York regiment fought at the first battle of the Civil War and then went on to distinguish itself at the Battles of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg.The regiment supposedly got its nickname from Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee who reportedly described it to another officer as "that fighting 69th regiment."
The 69th Infantry fought in World War I in a number of battles in northern France in 1917 and 1918 and in World War II, 69th Infantry Soldiers fought on the islands of Makin, Saipan, and Okinawa in the Pacific. 69th Infantry Soldiers responded to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and also served in Afghanistan and Kuwait.