Shreveport Times -- A Lake Charles soldier has died in Iraq following combat with terrorists, the Pentagon said today.



Pfc. Bryan M. Thomas, 22, died Monday in Baghdad of wounds suffered in the town of Salman Pak, when his patrol encountered small arms fire during combat operations. 



Thomas was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, based in Baumholder, Germany.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon released the name of another soldier killed in that same action. That soldier was Capt. Gregory T. Dalessio, who was killed in the same incident. Dalessio, 30, was from Cherry Hill, N.J., and also was assigned to the 2/6th Infantry.

Tehran Times -- BAKU (AFP) -- An Azerbaijani soldier has been killed while serving with U.S.-led forces in Iraq, the ex-Soviet republic's defense ministry said Saturday.

Rafael Agayev died in Iraq ""while carrying out his duties,"" the ministry said in a statement. Agayev had served nearly a year in Iraq and had only three days remaining in his tour of duty. 



Defense ministry spokesman Eldar Sabitoglu said no other details regarding his death were available. 



Agayev was Azerbaijan's first reported casualty in Iraq, where the country has about 150 soldiers serving with coalition forces, mostly as guards at the Haditha Dam in western Iraq. 



Azerbaijan, a predominantly Muslim country wedged between Russia and Iran, has sent small numbers of forces to Afghanistan and Iraq as President Ilham Aliyev seeks closer ties with the West.

Democrat and Chronicle -- A 38-year-old Marine from Brockport was killed Thursday in Iraq along with his commanding officer and another Marine, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.



Capt. Philip J. Dykeman died during combat in Al Anbar province, the military said. He was the leader of Fox Company in the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Also killed were Lt. Col. Max A. Galeai, 42, of Pago Pago, American Samoa, the commanding officer of the Hawaii-based battalion of more than 1,000 Marines and sailors; and 23-year-old Sgt. Marcus Preudhomme, of North Miami Beach, Fla., an administrative clerk with the battalion. About 20 Iraqis also died in the attack.

The three are believed to have been killed in the town of Karmah in Anbar province, about 30 miles west of Baghdad in a suicide bomb attack.



Democrat and Chronicle -- Friends remembered Galeai as a dedicated family man, a natural leader and a caring buddy who would never burden others with his problems. Just last week, in the midst of his deployment in Iraq, he sent e-mails to friends with jokes about the hot weather and friendly queries about how they were doing. 



"I'm trying to cope with the fact that he's no longer with us," said Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Taumaoe Gaoteote of California, a longtime friend.



"I didn't know how to react when I heard. I never thought it would actually happen to him."



In a newsletter for families of Kane'ohe-based Marines, Galeai wrote in February that during the deployment, battalion members would be "working with Iraqi police, Iraqi army and other(s) ... as we help the Iraqi people establish the conditions necessary for them to assume responsibility for their own security and local governance."



Florida Times-Union -- When Marcus Preud'homme followed his older brother into the Marines, he was chasing his dreams to "be all you could be," said a family friend.

"Marcus always had high standards and high expectations of himself," Desiree Downing said.

Those dreams came to an end Thursday. Preud'homme, a sergeant, was killed by a bomb in Iraq, said Dan McCarthy, Jacksonville's director of military affairs.

Preud'homme had been home recently, visiting a month or so ago. He spent New Year's in New Orleans with family members, said his sister Jessica Preud'homme, speaking briefly through her tears about what she said were so many happy memories.

A 2004 graduate of Fletcher High School, Preud'homme received a number of academic honors and was a member of the school's wrestling team.

WITN TV -- There is new information today about the death of a Beaufort County soldier killed in Iraq.

The Defense Department says Spc. Joel Taylor died Wednesday after the vehicle he was in encountered an improvised explosive device.

The DOD says two other soldiers in the vehicle with Taylor were also killed. The attack happened Tuesday in Mosul.

The 20-year-old Taylor was a member of the 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Hood, Texas. Family members tell WITN News that this was Taylor's first deployment to Iraq.

Original Story

A soldier from Beaufort County is one of the latest members of the armed forces to die in Iraq.

Clarksville Leaf Chronicle -- A Rossview High School graduate whose portrait is painted on the school walls died Wednesday in Iraq.

Spc. Joshua Lee Plocica, 20, of Clarksville died in Baghdad of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device, according to a Department of Defense news release.

Plocica was assigned to 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Lisa Thompson, Plocica's mother, said family and friends miss him dearly, but they are celebrating his life.

"Josh would want everyone to celebrate his life, not mourn his death," she said. "He loved life; he was one of those people who lit up a room with his smile when he walked in. He was so genuine."

San Diego Union Tribune -- Alejandro A. Dominguez loved the Army so much that he listed “my tank manual” as his favorite book on his MySpace page.

The Army came in second only to his love for his family. The 2002 Southwest High School graduate's home page featured a photo of his baby daughter and wrote that “without my wife or my daughter all I do would be for nothing.”

In a matter of days, the 24-year-old sergeant would be headed home to reunite with his wife and daughter in Texas, where he was stationed, and to see about buying a house during his mid-tour visit from Iraq.

Instead, the Army announced yesterday that Dominguez, along with Spc. Joel A. Taylor, 20, of Pinetown, N.C., and Pfc. James M. Yohn, 25, of Highspire, Pa., were killed. The Fort Hood soldiers died Wednesday when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb.

Tucson Citizen -- A soldier from Tucson was one of two soldiers killed Tuesday when a bomb exploded in Baghdad, according to the Department of Defense.

Chief Warrant Officer Robert C. Hammett, 39, was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Carson.

Also killed in the blast was Maj. Dwayne M. Kelley, 48, of Willingboro, N.J., who was assigned to the 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion out of Green Bay, Wis.

Hammett joined the army March 2, 1990, and served in Kuwait in 2002 and 2003, and in Iraq for two tours, one in from November 2005-November 2006 and a second that began in December, the Denver Post reported.

He was awarded numerous military honors including the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal and the Army Commendation Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters, according to the report.

He was a command and control systems technician.

1010 Wins -- NEW JERSEY (AP) -- A decorated New Jersey state trooper was killed in Iraq while serving on his third tour of duty as an Army reservist, state police announced Wednesday.

Detective Sgt. 1st Class Dwayne Kelley, an Army major, died in the bombing of a Baghdad district council building on Tuesday, state police Capt. Al Della Fave said.

Kelley, who spoke Arabic and served in the state police counterterrorism unit, had volunteered for his latest tour, which began in November, Della Fave said.

``He touched many lives throughout the law enforcement and military communities, and he will be deeply missed by us all,'' said Col. Joseph R. Fuentes, state police superintendent.

As part of his counterterrorism efforts, Kelley interviewed detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Fuentes said.