Iraq

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Twenty-four members of the West Virginia Air National Guard's 167th Airlift Wing have been activated for duty, with all but three heading to Iraq, an official at the base said Tuesday. Lt. Col. Roger Sencindiver said the 24 airmen are with the 167th's Aerial Port Squadron, based in Martinsburg. Three will head to Charleston (S.C.) Air Force Base, while 21 will head to Iraq. The Guard members will be responsible for loading equipment onto aircraft, packing parachutes for airdrops, making sure the weight of cargo is balanced and unloading equipment.

HAGERSTOWN -- Rosa Grunthalt is not the sort of property manager who just collects the rent check. She likes to chat and get to know the residents of Kenley Square Apartments, a 96-unit complex in Hagerstown. Through her chats, Grunthalt noticed that more than a handful of residents had something in common -- namely, a history of military service in Iraq. With Kenley Square Apartments' annual Resident Appreciation Day approaching, Grunthalt came up with an idea to use the event as an opportunity to honor the military personnel who reside there.

WAYNESBORO, PA. -- "Be aware of your surroundings. Be polite. But never trust anyone," Army Master Sgt. Robert Gehres II said. After three deployments to Iraq, it was this simple charge he offered his son, Spc. Robert Gehres III, who loaded the bus on Saturday to head to Mississippi to train for a yearlong deployment to Iraq. "And come home safe," said his stepmother, Sgt. Cari Mueller. For months, Gehres' troop, Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 104th Cavalry, has waited for Saturday to arrive.

Randy Ross of Keedysville and seven other men received the military's highest civilian honor Jan. 24. The Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom honors civilian employees of the Department of Defense who were wounded or killed in the line of duty. Ross was awarded the medal for his actions and injuries on April 9, 2004, when he was a fuel truck driver on the Thomas Hammil convoy that was attacked in Baghdad. The medal is equivalent to the military's Purple Heart and is inscribed with the words "On Behalf of a Grateful Nation.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, PA. - Throughout history, countless soldiers have died on foreign battlefields and in military hospitals far from their loved ones, but when Staff Sgt. Kimberly Fahnestock Voelz died Dec. 14, 2003, in Iraq, she did so in the arms of her husband. "She was smart. She was funny. All the usual stuff," Sgt. 1st Class Max Voelz said Monday when asked what attracted him to Kimberly. "She was tough. " About 100 military and civilian personnel joined Kimberly's husband and other family and friends on a cool, gray morning at a remote entrance to Letterkenny Army Depot for the unveiling of a memorial to honor the first female soldier from Pennsylvania killed in Iraq.

HAGERSTOWN -- Nestled in her mother's arms Wednesday afternoon, Savannah Taylor cried as visitors crowded into a room at Washington County Hospital, where the baby was born only hours earlier. Sgt. Aaron Taylor stood by his wife's side, having traveled halfway across the world for the birth of his first child. Taylor, 23, of Hagerstown, was five months into his second tour of duty in Iraq when he took an 18-day leave so he could be home for his daughter's birth. Ashlee Taylor, 23, gave birth to the couple's first child Wednesday morning.

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jonathan Breehl was in a hospital in Kuwait on Friday, a day after shrapnel struck him while he was on patrol in Habbaniyah, Iraq, said his mother, Melissa Custer. A 2005 North Hagerstown High School graduate and wrestling standout, Breehl, 19, was stabilized and heavily sedated for pain Friday at a holding hospital in Kuwait. He will be transferred to a German hospital, where he will be evaluated, Custer said. Breehl, who joined the Marines last July, sustained injuries to his right wrist and left thigh when shrapnel from a remote-controlled improvised explosive device struck him Thursday morning in Habbaniyah, Custer said.

marlob@herald-mail.com WILLIAMSPORT - As a part-time emergency medical technician for the Williamsport Volunteer Ambulance Service, Will Stuller II had his hands full on a recent snowy morning while working at the scene of a serious accident along Interstate 70. The training that served Stuller on that call was similar to the skills he employed on a recent four-month stint in Iraq as a flight medic with the U.S. Air National Guard 167th...

MONT ALTO, Pa. ? A Mont Alto man critically wounded by a roadside bomb this week in Iraq underwent hours of surgery to treat burns and other injuries on Friday after returning to the United States, his grandfather said. Edward Shaffer said he and his wife, Goldie, received a telephone message left by their grandson's parents on Friday about 2:30 a.m. "The phone rang sometime last night, and we never even heard it," he said. "They got to Texas OK. They were operating and in surgery for 13 hours," Edward Shaffer said Friday afternoon of his grandson, Sgt. Edward W. "Eddie" Shaffer, 24, who was injured when the bomb went off Monday next to his Bradley vehicle.

Tens of thousands of U.S. troops were being deployed to the Persian Gulf region last week as the United States continued to gear up for war against Iraq. It should be no surprise to anyone that we are moving closer to taking on Saddam. President Bush has made clear both his belief that Iraq is hiding nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and his willingness to wage war to get rid of Saddam. On Tuesday, Bush was quoted as saying that Saddam "must disarm. I'm sick and tired of games and deceptions.