The News Tribune (Lite) - Five Stryker soldiers die in shooting, bomb attack

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Section: Stryker Brigade

Five Stryker soldiers die in shooting, bomb attack

MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
Five more Fort Lewis soldiers have been killed in action in the war in Iraq, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday.

The most recent was Sgt. Andrews J. Higgins, 28, of Hayward, Calif., who was fatally wounded by small-arms fire Tuesday in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad.

Higgins was assigned to Company A, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team).

Higgins enlisted in March 1996 and served previously with 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Most recently, he was a fire support specialist and forward observer.

Four other Fort Lewis soldiers, all artillerymen, were killed Sunday in a bomb attack on their vehicle, the Department of Defense said.

They were identified as:

• Staff Sgt. Greg P. Gagarin, 38, of Los Angeles.

• Sgt. James C. Akin, 23, of Albuquerque, N.M.

• Sgt. Tyler J. Kritz, 21, of Eagle River, Wis.

• Sgt. Robert A. Surber, 24, of Inverness, Fla.

The four, all from the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, died after their armored Humvee was hit at Thania, in Diyala province.

The artillery battalion is also part of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, a unit now a year into a deployment that is expected to continue into October.

Their deaths bring the brigade’s losses to 34, and continue the most difficult weeks of the war for Fort Lewis. The post lost 20 soldiers in Iraq in May, and now seven so far in June.

The post has more soldiers in Iraq than at any time since the March 2003 invasion, about 10,000. Most are with the 3rd Brigade and another Stryker unit, the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Hometown papers Wednesday reported on the deaths of Akin and Kritz.

Akin aspired to become president, and if one day he would have to send troops into combat, he wanted to know what war is like. So he joined the Army, a friend told the Albuquerque Tribune.

“He was willing to put his actions where his mouth was,” said Victor Raigoza.

Akin, a 2001 high school graduate, sold his retail cell phone company to manage Raigoza’s 2004 Democratic bid for a seat in the New Mexico state Senate, Raigoza told the paper. They lost, and after that Akin reported for basic training.

He is survived by his wife, Syreeta, and his father, James, of Albuquerque.

Kritz enlisted in 2003 and arrived at Fort Lewis that November. His hometown paper, the Rhinelander (Wis.) Daily News, reported that he was serving his second Iraq deployment.

Students had a moment of silence to remember him Wednesday on the last day of classes at Northland Pines High School. A teacher told The Associated Press that Kritz was shy, but friendly.

“He was well-liked. When he did talk, he had a sense of humor,” teacher Jason Foster said. Kritz is survived by his parents, the AP reported.

Post officials said Gagarin joined the Army in 1988 and spent three years in the National Guard before returning to active duty and serving in Korea. He went to Iraq with the 3rd Brigade on its first deployment, in 2003-04, and also served in Operation Desert Storm.

Surber joined the Army in January 2002 and arrived at Fort Lewis that June.

Michael Gilbert: 253-597-8921

mike.gilbert@thenewstribune.com

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