War takes heavy toll on region

In a deadly start to the month of May, roadside bombs claimed the lives of eight Northwest soldiers and the legs of a ninth.

Six members of a Fort Lewis Stryker brigade were killed Sunday by a bomb in Diyala province, and two members of an Army Reserve unit based in Hayden Lake were killed May 3 by an improvised explosive device that ripped into their armored vehicle near Ramadi.

Sgt. Brandon Adam, of Sandpoint, lost both legs above the knee in a bomb explosion in Baghdad on Saturday. Adam, 21, was in the middle of his second tour in Iraq; he was evacuated first to Germany, then to a U.S. Army hospital in San Antonio, Texas.

His father, Doug Adam, said his son is expected to have several months of medical care and therapy and be fitted for prostheses at the hospital before returning home. He described Brandon as someone with a big heart who is not easily defeated.

“He will walk back in through the front door,” Adam said. “It’s not the end of the line. It’s the beginning of a new phase of life.”

A special aid fund was established at Mountain West Bank, where donations can be made “To the Benefit of Brandon Adam.”

Names of the six Washington-based Stryker brigade soldiers, part of Task Force Lightning, were not released on Monday. They and a Russian photojournalist accompanying their unit were killed traveling between Baghdad and Baqouba. The photographer was identified by Russian Newsweek magazine as Dmitry Chebotayev.

Funeral services are pending for Cpl. Kelly Grothe, of Spokane Valley, and Staff Sgt. Coby Schwab, of Puyallup, who were killed May 3 when their armored personnel carrier struck an improvised explosive device. A spokesman for Bravo Company of the 321st Engineer Battalion, based in Hayden Lake, said it typically takes about a week for the bodies of service members to arrive from Iraq.

Grothe was a 2004 graduate of Central Valley High School who was mobilized with his Reserve unit last summer and went to Iraq in the fall. As combat engineers, their main job was to clear routes to maintain mobility for the rest of the Army, said Lt. Wade Winegardner, a spokesman for the unit.

Schwab, 25, was a member of another Reserve unit based at Fort Lewis who was added to the 321st when it was mobilized last summer, Winegardner said. He lived in the Puyallup area before he was sent overseas, but his divorce become final late last month and the Army’s official listing for his hometown was changed from Puyallup, where his ex-wife lives, to his parents’ home in Henderson, Nev.

Five other members of the reserve unit were injured in the explosion. Two of them – Master Sgt. David Johnson, of Spokane, who injured his back, and Spc. Adam Vindasious, of Coeur d’Alene, who suffered a ruptured eardrum – were being evaluated in Germany for a possible return home, said Capt. John Vogt, a unit spokesman. The other three are expected to remain in Iraq.

Brandon Adam was quickly evacuated from Iraq and spent only a short time at the Army medical center in Landstuhl, Germany, before being flown to Brooke Medical Center in Texas. His mother, Karen Adam, barely made it to Germany in time to accompany him back to the United States.

“He doesn’t remember much about the explosion,” Doug Adam said. “He was asking about the others in his unit.”

No one else was injured in the blast.

Adam was a student at Sandpoint High School when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack occurred, his father said. He was in driver ed that morning, and the car pulled over to listen to news accounts, Doug Adam recalled; Brandon was so deeply affected that he decided to enlist the next week and entered the Army the summer after he graduated, shipping out just after his 18th birthday.

He served one tour in Iraq, returned to Fort Carson, Colo., with the 2nd Infantry, and was in the middle of his second tour as a sapper, a specialty among Army engineers assigned to front-line infantry units. He recently re-enlisted for another three years, and was expecting a transfer to Fort Lewis when he returned from Iraq.

An avid snowboarder and dirt-bike rider, he returned to Sandpoint on leave about a month ago, said his sister, Trish Small. He spent time with family and friends, and served as best man at his best friend’s wedding in Colorado.

He firmly believed in the mission in Iraq, his father said. “His belief is that a hero is anyone who would lay down his life for the betterment of mankind.”

Adam frequently called his parents, and e-mailed almost every day – including on Saturday, the day of the explosion. In that e-mail, he talked about the move to Fort Lewis and being closer to home. He closed the e-mail as he usually did, Doug Adam said:

“Talk to you later. I gotta go to work.”