Ahmed K. Altaie

Tennessee's Adjutant General Major General Max Haston confirms that two Tennessee Army National Guard pilots were killed Sunday in a helicopter accident in Iraq.

Captain Marcus Ray Alford, of Knoxville, and Chief Warrant Officer Two Billie Jean Grinder, of Gallatin, were killed when their OH-58D Kiowa Warrior made a "hard landing" near Qayyarah Airfield West (Q-West) about 30 miles south of Mosul in Northern Iraq.

The Tennessean -- Tennessee Army National Guard pilot Billie Jean Grinder, of Gallatin, was killed Sunday when her OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter made a “hard landing” in northern Iraq, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Grinder’s co-pilot, Capt. Marcus Ray Alford of Knoxville, also died in the crash, which took place near Qayyarah Airfield West about 30 miles south of Mosul in northern Iraq. Grinder and Alford both were members of Troop C 1/230th Air Cavalry, which is based in Louisville, Tenn. in Blount County and was once part of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

SAN BENITO — Army Pfc. Adriana Alvarez entered the military fresh out of high school, hoping it would pave the way to a criminal justice career.

She was deployed to Iraq in August and, true to her goal, was serving in the military police. She kept in touch with e-mails and phone calls from Baghdad to her San Benito home, last calling her mother and three sisters on Monday.

Wednesday night, officials told the family that Alvarez had been found dead that morning. She had only recently turned 20. Alvarez, who was with the 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, died of injuries sustained while supporting combat operations, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

The Associated Press -- In high school, Scott Barnett fell in love with Nikki Gill, his future wife, went to Linkin Park concerts with her and participated in walks to raise cancer awareness.

Now Nikki Barnett, the 24-year-old soldier’s wife — who battled non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a teenager — says he was her “soul mate.”

“We loved each other so insanely much,” she said.

Scott Barnett of Concord, Calif., died Jan. 28 in Tallil, Iraq, of injuries sustained while supporting combat operations. He was based at Katterbach, Germany.

The Associated Press -- Gifford Hurt’s parents are Army veterans, and he grew up on military bases.

No one was surprised when Hurt, of Yonkers N.Y., decided on an Army career and enlisted a year ago at age 18.

“All of our friends are in the military, and that’s all he knew,” said his mother, Lisa Davis.

The Associated Press -- Michael R. Jarrett grew up in southern California but joined the Army in 2007 in North Platte, Neb., where he had traveled with best friend Andy Clark.

“He decided it was better than minimum wage in Nebraska,” Clark told the Ramona Sentinel of Ramona, Calif.

Jarrett’s mother, Brenda, said the longtime Boy Scout had a knack for getting others involved, whether he was camping, riding three-wheelers or digging for crabs at the beach. She called him Mike, but close friends used the default moniker he was once assigned while logging on to play a video game.

The Associated Press -- David Croft managed to avoid drugs, gangs and trouble — things that swallowed up so many kids in the tough neighborhood where he grew up.

And when he returned from his deployment to Iraq, he wanted to work in law enforcement in an anti-gang task force, where he hoped to help kids.

“He wanted to make a difference over there,” said Croft’s best friend, Jacob Hollifield. “But he wanted to make a difference here, too.”