10:07 AM PDT on Monday, September 20, 2004

Associated Press

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Just days after a roadside bomb took the lives of two more National Guard soldiers from Bravo Company, family of the members of Oregon's 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment gathered in Corvallis to swap news, condolences and hope.

Sgt. Phillip Jacques, who survived a bomb attack that killed Spc. Kenny Leisten of Cornelius on July 28 in Iraq, told those assembled on Sunday that the soldiers think of them constantly.

"I know those guys think about you every minute of the day," Jacques said. "Until they go out on patrol and they've got something else to think about. Then they get back and think about you again."

Jacques is recovering from his injuries back home in Oregon along with another survivor of the attack, Pvt. Benjamin Ring.

Family photo Ben Isenberg.

Members of the Family Readiness Group were also mourning the deaths of two more Bravo Company soldiers, Spc. Benjamin Isenberg of Sheridan and Staff Sgt. David Weisenburg of Portland on Sept. 13. Isenberg had achieved the rank of sergeant and was promoted posthumously.

New Hope Community Church in Clackamas will hold a celebration of life for Weisenburg at 1 p.m. Tuesday, said Col. Cam Crawford, deputy commander of the Oregon Army National Guard's 41st Brigade. A funeral for Isenberg was scheduled at Church of the Nazarene in Sheridan at 10 a.m. Thursday, with burial at Willamette National Cemetery.

The soldiers of Bravo Company continue to patrol the dangerous countryside around Camp Taji, northwest of Baghdad.

"It feels horrible that I left my guys back there," Jacques said. "At the same time, I love being back here with my family. I'm so fortunate to be alive."