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