Losing comrade a shock to Utahns

The first injuries in Bravo Battery came about a month into its tour of duty in the war zone. Death would follow later.

"We were welcomed to Iraq in a very harsh way," said Staff Sgt. Les Patterson of Hyde Park, Cache County.

The National Guardsmen from Logan and Brigham City were assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, one of the most decorated combat units in the United States. They worked side by side with active-duty troops in Samara about an hour north of Baghdad.

"There was no difference. We were all soldiers, and the enemy didn't care, either," he said.

A rocket-propelled grenade struck one of the unit's armored vehicles, peppering the driver and gunner with shrapnel. They suffered cuts but were able to return to work after receiving medical care.

"We weren't so lucky later on," said Patterson, 39.

Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 148th Field Artillery mobilized in June 2004 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The soldiers moved no less than 20 times during the 18-month deployment, which ended just before this past Thanksgiving. It trained at two U.S. Army bases for six months before heading to the Middle East.

"We got really used to living out of a couple of duffle bags," he said. "That was not the rule for most units."

The battery provided security during the Iraqi elections last January and carried out missions in and around Kirkuk and Tikrit.

It was in Kirkuk last July where Bravo Battery lost one man and had two wounded.

Patterson remembers the day all too well. It was his job to monitor the whereabouts of various teams in Iraq.

"I was in the operations center. I had seen those guys an hour before when they checked in to go on their patrol," he said.

On July 16, Patterson received word that a roadside bomb had blown up a Humvee. And the waiting began. When the news came it wasn't good: KIA and WIA. Killed in action. Wounded in action.

"We just held our breath to see who it was," he said.

The next message wasn't a name but a battle roster number. The first one belonged to the KIA, Sgt. 1st Class Ron Wood.

"That was a tough day, a tough week, to lose such a great man, such a great soldier," Patterson said. "He was the very best. He did everything right 100 percent of the time. I can't say that (I did), but he did."