Articles 5.21.2005

The Desert Strike FRG site has many new updates on the Memorial Tribute page, providing descriptions of fallen servicemen, their military records, and their military portraits. In addition, fallen Marines of the 1/5 Marines are included, the first formal implication that the 1/5 Marines are serving under ther 2nd BCT.
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The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the Michigan state senate is expected to pass a bill renaming two state roads after soldiers killed while serving in Iraq. One of the two soldiers expected to receive the honor during a Memorial Day ceremony is Pfc Aaron Rusin, of the 44th Engineers, who was killed on 10.11.2004. Pfc Rusin joined the Army with a great desire to serve. One of his commanders sent his mother a letter after his death, describing the night he died. He was shot during an ambush, but kept driving the vehicle he was in "to get his squad out of harm's way. He was a hero, the commander wrote. He saved lives."
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The Associated Press has an article on the continuing legal dispute over custody of the body of SSG Jason Hendrix, of the 1-9th, who was killed in Ramadi on 2.16.2005. A probate-court judge "vacated parts of her original decision, ruling the court lacked the jurisdiction to grant the remains" to his father, and that the case should be decided in a civil-court hearing, not the probate court. His mother's attorney announced that she "will proceed with a civil case," with much of the motivation coming from a desire to "establish a road map for other families" facing similar circumstances. The article also mentions that legislation was introduced in congress "earlier this month that would require soldiers to designate someone to handle their funeral arrangements." KRXI News has an article and video segment on the on-going case.
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The Associated Press and Reuters carry articles discussing a large protest in Ramadi held on Friday, 5.20.2005, over alleged desecration of the Koran. According to the article "3,000 worshipers prayed under a baking sun and heeded a call from three of Iraq's most influential Sunni organizations for places of worship to be shut for three days to protest alleged Shiite violence against them." A separate AP article describes the alleged incident: "Last week US soldiers allegedly raided the al Quds mosque in the Albu Faraj village and painted a cross on the front page of the Koran." AFP has a picture of the Koran allegedly desecrated in Ramadi. According to the Reuters article, "The U.S. military says the allegations are false."
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Stars & Stripes reporter Joseph Giordono has an article on the call for a ban on raiding of Mosques, quoting primarily from a recent NY Times article. One new quote, presumably from the reporter's experiences while embedded with the 2nd BCT: "In towns such as Ramadi, a center of the insurgency west of Baghdad, Iraqi troops have sometimes been welcomed when they search mosques because residents presume they are more sensitive to Islamic tradition than American soldiers. But at other times, even the Iraqi troops have faced angry receptions."
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Other articles from the region:
- Associated Press: Sunni Groups Team Up Politically in Iraq
- Associated Press: Insurgency Delays Reconstruction of Iraq
- Reuters: Violence in Iraq cripples $21-bln rebuilding effort