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Stryker battalion enters fight in Baqubah

Courtesy Photo | Soldiers of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas react...... read more read more

BAQUBAH, IRAQ

03.27.2007

Courtesy Story

5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAQUBAH, Iraq— Soldiers who arrived in Baqubah to bolster the effort to root out terrorists in the Diyala province, wound up in several battles against insurgents on their first day in the city, March 14.

Those Soldiers, who are members of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., arrived the day before from Taji, which is located on the outskirts of Baghdad.

They joined the 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, for a mission to get acquainted with Baqubah and speak to its residents.

"It basically turned into a fight," said Staff Sgt. Dewey Knapp, with 2nd Platoon, Company B, 5-20th Inf. Regt. "We found a whole bunch of IEDs, got hit with an IED, and got hit with small arms fire and (rocket propelled grenade) fire."

One Soldier from each battalion was killed during the day's fighting.

The 5-20th Inf. Regt. reported that Soldiers from Company B and the 1-12 CAB's Company A, destroyed an enemy RPG team which targeted them at the site of one of the roadside bombs. The bomb was planted in front of a school in western Baqubah.

The cavalry Soldiers, who have been conducting military operations in Baqubah since arriving from Fort Hood in November 2006, responded immediately to the Stryker vehicle, said Spc. Daniel Mendoza, from Company B, 5-20th Inf. Regt.

"We stand together," Mendoza said of his cavalry counterparts, "We know they are right by us. They have our backs, our front, and our sides."

The bomb blast sparked an initial fire fight, with the cavalry and Stryker Soldiers engaging insurgents for about 30 minutes. Sporadic fire continued throughout the entire day.

Mendoza said he was expecting intense fighting in Baqubah, but didn't think it would happen on the first day.

"They are going to come at us with all they have," said Mendoza.

Spc. Alex Horton, also with Company B, feels that Baqubah has been infused by insurgents who left Baghdad to escape the troop surge in the Iraqi capital.

Although the Stryker Soldiers are trying to cope with the death of two of their comrades, one of whom was from their own battalion, Knapp said it won't affect the job the Soldiers are here to do.

"We'll go out tomorrow and do what we got to do to try and eliminate the threat," he said.