ENC Today -- A member of Adams' family told The Daily News via telephone Thursday night that a statement about Adams was given to the National Guard to be relayed to the news media when his death was officially announced.

Attempts by The Daily News to obtain the statement from media representatives for the National Guard on the national, state and local level were unsuccessful.

The deaths bring to 15 the total number of North Carolina National Guard soldiers killed in action since Sept. 11, 2001, according to The Associated Press.

North Carolina National Guard commander Maj. Gen. William E. Ingram Jr. said "the people of our state mourn today with the families of these fine soldiers."

Fort Mill Times -- Robert Bittiker enlisted in the North Carolina Army National Guard in 1990. This was his third combat deployment, having served in Bosnia and Iraq in 2004.

His mother, Mary Wheat, said she talked to her son on Father's Day.

"He said it was quiet around there, but I am not sure he didn't say that so we wouldn't worry," she told The Associated Press on Thursday night.

She said her son liked to fish, cheer for the Washington Redskins and work on an old beat-up truck and Ford Mustang.

"They were pretty rough and unfixable," she said. "But you probably couldn't convince him of that."

Bittiker's family has a history of service. His father served in the Marines and his mother worked for the Department of Defense.

"We all supported the mission there. He knew what he was doing was for a good cause and he believed in what he was doing," Wheat said.

Newsday -- To those who knew him, Sgt. Juan Carlos Baldeosingh was both carefree and dutiful, a fun-loving joker who found military service so fulfilling that he enlisted twice.



Baldeosingh, a National Guardsman who grew up in Hempstead, was among the last four soldiers killed in Baghdad on Monday, just before the U.S. pullback this week in Iraq.



He was scheduled for a two-week leave next week.



"We thought he was coming back," his half-sister Dianna Baldeosingh, 28, said tearfully Thursday at a relative's East Meadow home.

A former Marine, Baldeo-singh, 30, was a U.S. Army National Guardsman serving with the Multi-Nation Division Baghdad when he was killed. His family said the Humvee he was in was hit by an improvised explosive device.


Star News Online -- Wilmington | As a firefighter and a soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Edward Kramer was the kind of man who always wanted to be in the middle of the action.

But when he wasn’t on duty, friends say, he enjoyed curling his toes in the sand and casting a fishing line into the surf.

“He was really outgoing,” said Ryan Young, who worked with Kramer at the Wilmington Fire Department. “He was one of those special people when he walked in a room, you felt like you knew him.”

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the 39-year-old Kramer, a former Wilmington firefighter and veteran of two wars, was one of four soldiers killed in Iraq this week.

Kramer and three others died from wounds sustained Monday night when an improvised explosive device detonated in Baghdad, near the humvee they were riding in, according to a statement from the defense department. It was the last day of regular combat operations for U.S. forces in Iraqi cities.

ABC12 -- BEAVERTON (WJRT) -- (06/30/09) -- A Mid-Michigan soldier has been killed in Iraq as that country marks the withdrawal of U.S. Troops from Baghdad and other cities.

Army Sgt. Timothy David, 28, of Beaverton died Sunday in Baghdad after he was hit with a roadside bomb in Sadr City.

Sgt. David was a 1999 graduate of Beaverton High School and was on his sixth mission in either Iraq or Afghanistan when he died Sunday in Iraq.

David's father, Michael, said his son joined the Army right after high school. He served with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood.

Davis also said his son was supposed to come home in June, but the military extended his stay.

Houston Chronicle -- A Brazoria County soldier stationed in Kuwait died Thursday from injuries he received in what military officials said was a non combat-related incident, the Department of Defense announced today.

Spec. Joshua L. Hazlewood, 22, of Manvel, was assigned to the Army’s 614th Automated Cargo Documentation Detachment at Arifjan when he was killed, officials said.

The circumstances that lead to Hazlewood’s death remain under investigation, military officials said.

The Military Moms and Wives of Brazoria County on Saturday will be placing U.S. flags at Hazlewood’s home, the support group announced today.

Honolulu Star-Bulletin -- A memorial service was to be held in Kuwait today for a 23-year-old Army reservist who died Wednesday during convoy operations in Iraq with the Hawaii Army National Guard.

The soldier was identified as Spc. Casey L. Hills of Salem, Ill. who was sitting in the front passenger seat of a Humvee that rolled over. Two other soldiers in the Humvee suffered minor injuries. They were identified as Sgt. Talifaie Tuufuli and Spc. Billy Gibson.

All three soldiers were members of Charlie Company, which is normally stationed in American Samoa. The unit is part of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment, which is one of the units attached to the Hawaii Army National Guard's 29th Brigade Combat Team.

A spokesman for the Army Reserve at Fort Shafter said he didn't know which of the two injured soldiers was the driver.

Lt. Col. Mike Peeters, commander of the 100th Battalion, said that Hills was not supposed to have been on the convoy security mission.

INDIANAPOLIS - Specialist Chancellor Arsenio Keesling passed away June 19, 2009 while serving in Iraq.

Chancellor was born June 7, 1984. Until the age of twelve he lived in Jamaica, where he attended Paradise Preparatory School. As he matured, Chancellor developed a love of all things Jamaican, including reggae and football.

When his family relocated to Indianapolis in 1996 to start their new business, Chancellor quickly adapted to life in the U.S., and "football" became "soccer." Following a successful try-out, he joined the F.C. Dynamo Soccer team; this was one of his proudest achievements. He attended Fall Creek Valley Middle School and graduated from Lawrence North H.S., Class of 2003.

San Angelo Standard Times -- Army Sgt. Joshua W. Soto, 25, of San Angelo, died Tuesday in Iraq of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle, the Army said.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, El Paso, according to a Department of Defense news release.

Soto was an infantryman who enlisted from San Angelo in November 2002. He was previously stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., in Germany, and at Fort Hood. This was his third tour in Iraq, the release said.

Stars and Stripes -- SCHWETZINGEN, Germany — Ten months ago, Capt. Kafele Sims saved the life of Spc. Brian Quinonez.

On Tuesday, Quinonez said farewell to Sims, the physician assistant who diagnosed him with appendicitis last August. Quinonez had persistent gas pains and went to see Sims.

"Within five minutes, [Sims] said, ‘You have acute appendicitis,’" Quinonez said. "I can’t tell you what happened 20 minutes later because I was knocked out and in surgery. I do know that I am here today because of [Sims’] actions and decisions. That day he saved my life."

Sims, 32, of Los Angeles, died June 16 in Mosul, Iraq, in a noncombat-related incident. The cause of Sims’ death is still under investigation, said Bruce Anderson, U.S. Army Europe spokesman. Sims was assigned to the 18th Engineer Brigade in Schwetzingen.

About 75 soldiers and a few civilians gathered Tuesday afternoon in a small chapel on Tompkins Barracks for Sims’ memorial ceremony.