HONOLULU — A soldier with the Hawaii National Guard’s 29th Brigade Combat Team was killed in Iraq on Friday, the first citizen-soldier from the islands to die in combat since the Vietnam War, officials said. The unidentified 20-year-old man was
HONOLULU — A soldier with the Hawaii National Guard’s 29th Brigade Combat Team was killed in Iraq on Friday, the first citizen-soldier from the islands to die in combat since the Vietnam War, officials said.
The unidentified 20-year-old man was killed by a roadside bomb that left three other soldiers wounded in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, the military said. None of the three wounded was from Hawai‘i.
“It’s the day that I have dreaded since last October when I stood in front of the troops at Aloha Stadium and said farewell,” Gov. Linda Lingle said.
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said he was saddened when his office was informed of the guardsman’s death. The soldier’s name was not immediately released pending notification of family.
“In Hawai‘i, we are ohana (family), and the death of this 20-year-old local soldier is like a death in each of our own families,” Inouye, D-Hawai‘i, said in a news release issued by his Washington office.
“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,” he said.
“I extend my heartfelt condolences to this brave soldier’s family, friends and fellow soldiers who had the privilege of serving with him,” Inouye said.
It was the first death of a Hawai‘i citizen-soldier since the guard unit began a one-year deployment to Iraq in January. Two other members of the 29th Brigade, both from the mainland, have been killed.
About 3,700 soldiers are part of the 29th Brigade and more than 2,200 of those are from the Hawaii Army National Guard and the Army Reserve’s 100th Battalion of the 442nd Infantry.
