News Article

Source: The Greeneville Sun
04-06-2005

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — A member of a Tennessee-based National Guard unit was killed in fighting that followed an ambush south of Balad Ruz, Iraq, military officials said.

The member of the 278th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) and another U.S. soldier were killed Monday in fierce fighting that followed an attack by hidden insurgents on the mixed force of U.S. and Iraqi troops.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel, in its morning edition today, quoted state Sen. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, as identifying the 278th RCT soldier who was killed as Staff Sgt. Jeff Stephen Kennedy, 35, of Oak Ridge.

"The whole gunfight lasted a little more than four hours, and in the realm of gunfights that’s an extremely long time," 278th platoon leader Lt. Dave Tiedeman told an embedded reporter from the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "They knew we were coming."

Two Iraqi Army soldiers also were killed in the battle.

Two other members of the 278th and 15 Iraqi Army soldiers were wounded, officials said. The wounded were airlifted to a military hospital in Baghdad.

More than 15 insurgents were killed in Monday’s fighting, officials said.

Second 278th Death

The death was the second 278th soldier killed in combat in Iraq.

Sgt. Paul Thomason III, a lifelong resident of Sevier County, was killed March 20 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb. He was a member of Greeneville-based Troop G, 2nd Squadron, 278th Regimental Combat Team.

Following the battle Monday, U.S. forces captured weapons and documents suggesting the insurgents used the area as a base and training center, said Lt. Col. Mark Hart, commander of the 278th’s 1st Squadron.

Commanders said the patrol of about 25 U.S. troops and 200 Iraqi Army soldiers was searching for a suspected cache of weapons when it came under attack from insurgents hiding in canals and ditches. The insurgents attacked using small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, pinning down the patrol.

After about 20 minutes of fighting, the unit was joined by armored reinforcements and air support, officials said.

Sgt. Richard Stooksbury, of the 278th, who was part of the patrol, said the insurgent attack was intense.

"We drove into a shooters' alley," he said.

The 3,200-member, Knoxville-based National Guard regiment began a year-long tour in Iraq shortly before Christmas.

Story Copyright to The Greeneville Sun