Posted on: Saturday, February 26, 2005

Citizen-soldiers take their turn in harm's way

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

Fear for the safety of loved ones that gripped the families of Schofield Barracks soldiers and Kane'ohe Marines over the past year has been extended to the families of Hawai'i's citizen-soldiers in harm's way.

Hawai'i families fretted in August when Hawai'i National Guard soldiers were called up for duty in Iraq.

They worried when more than 2,200 soldiers left in October for training in Texas and Louisiana.

But now, their concerns are front and center, with the soldiers recently arriving in Iraq.

Yesterday, the Pentagon reported that in northern Baghdad, three Task Force Baghdad soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded by a roadside bomb that detonated while the unit was conducting a patrol.

"There's absolutely no indication that any Hawai'i-based troops are among those casualties," said Maj. Chuck Anthony, a Guard spokesman in Hawai'i.

The military also was investigating the death yesterday of another Task Force Baghdad soldier from a "non-battle" injury.

Elements of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, are at Logistical Supply Area Anaconda near Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, Anthony said.

The 2nd Battalion, 299th Infantry, is based at least in part at Camp Victory South near Baghdad International Airport and is part of Task Force Baghdad.

The deployment is part of a yearlong vigil Eve Ikeda of Kalihi will have to keep for her husband and son. Master Sgt. Craig Ikeda, 57, is stationed at Anaconda, and Pvt. Jared Ikeda, 20, is at Camp Victory South, where he is part of a motorized infantry unit.

"It does add more of a stress element, or more of a worry element," Eve Ikeda said. "I'm a worrywart. I just have to give it to God every moment, every time I think about them."

Her understanding is that her husband won't be going off the 15-square-mile LSA Anaconda base. "So the thing I have to be concerned about is mortar fire coming into the base," she said. "His second day there, a mortar came in about 300 meters from where he was sleeping. No one was hurt."

Jared Ikeda, a Humvee gunner, is living in a three-story building "made of solid concrete (and with) a very thick roof," he said in an e-mail. The base has an opulent palace and fishing pond left over from Saddam Hussein's reign.

"Things are going well for my husband. His spirits are good," Eve Ikeda said. "My biggest concern is for Jared because he is out more in the line of fire."

Anthony said elements of the 100th Battalion have gone out on missions, while the 2nd Battalion, 299th Infantry, will be mostly manning checkpoints and providing entry-control security.

The 1st Battalion, 487th Field Artillery, is being kept at Kuwait Naval Base for security. Some of the soldiers are expected to be based in Qatar.

A support battalion out of Hawai'i also is in Balad, and an infantry battalion out of California is in Baghdad. The 29th Brigade Combat Team of about 3,600 soldiers includes a cavalry troop from Oregon, air defense artillery from Minnesota, and some Alaska Guard soldiers.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.