Spokane7
55°
July 9, 2011 in City, Idaho
Two Idaho soldiers killed in Iraq
Nicholas Newby, left, and Nathan Beyers
(Full-size photo)
On July 5, Spc. Nathan R. Beyers wrote on Facebook that a soldier has only one wish: “To come home safe.”
Two days later, Beyers and Spec. Nicholas W. Newby, both of Coeur d’Alene, died of wounds they suffered when insurgents attacked their convoy with an explosive in Baghdad, the U.S. Department of Defense said Saturday. A third soldier from the Coeur d’Alene area suffered serious injuries in the attack.
Beyers, 24, had spent several years in the Coeur d’Alene area, where his wife, Vanessa Beyers, and their infant daughter, still live, Idaho National Guard spokesman Col. Tim Marsano said. He previously lived in Littleton, Colo., Marsano said.
Newby, 20, lived in Coeur d’Alene from the age of 5. He graduated from The Bridge Academy Alternative School but also attended Lake City High School, according to his profile on My Space.
Both men reference time spent studying at North Idaho College in their online profiles.
Officials said Staff Sgt. Jason Rzepa, 30, of Coeur d’Alene, suffered serious leg injuries in the attack. He has been taken to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for treatment.
Rzepa attended Project CDA High School and received a marriage license in 2010, according to Spokesman-Review archives.
The soldiers were assigned to the 116th Cavalry Heavy Brigade Combat Team, based in Post Falls, Idaho.
“Nathan was proud of his job and serving our country,” Vanessa Beyers said in a statement. “He died doing something he loved and was such a brave person. We just had our first child, and Nathan had a chance to visit us when he was home on leave in January. I told him I knew he was going to be a wonderful father. We are going to miss him.”
Newby’s mother and father released a statement, noting their son could play a variety of musical instruments, including guitar, bass guitar, saxophone and drums. According to his My Space profile, he started a punk rock band called Trip Wire when he was 15.
“We wrote about an album’s worth of songs and played enough shows with the right bands to qualify as rock stars,” he wrote.
His parents described Newby as intellectually curious and an avid reader.
“Nick would do anything for anybody who needed his help,” they said. “He’d stick by his friends and never gave up on anybody. He had a great sense of humor, ever since he was a kid. For instance, once when he saw his pregnant mom drinking orange juice, he said, ‘Mom, you’re getting orange juice all over the baby!”’
They also said he enjoyed his truck. “He loved thrashing his truck and then fixing it; we recall digging him out of the snow and we all smiled through it. Nick loved his family, and everybody loved him.”
Newby wrote on My Space that he enlisted in the Army National Guard even before he graduated from the Bridge Academy in December 2008, and spent much of 2009 in basic training in South Carolina.
The 116th Cavalry Heavy Brigade Combat Team is on a yearlong mobilization and deployment to Iraq as part of Operation New Dawn. It has 2,700 soldiers from Idaho, Montana and Oregon. The soldiers are scheduled to return to the U.S. in September.
© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Man dies following early Saturday accident 
straightshooter on July 09 at 4:48 p.m.
Tragic! Two more senseless deaths. For what purpose did these men die? The fact that we now use a volunteer army seems to make it all right. Where is the outrage? Our Commander and Chief along with the Pentagon view theses men as “expendable”. These men chose to defend our nation. Their courage and dedication should be honored. They should be called upon only when our nation is in danger. The “warmongers” that make up our leaders are a disgrace…..
leekinny on July 09 at 5:43 p.m.
why ?
woamike on July 09 at 6:06 p.m.
When is the Nobel “Peace” prize winning Barrack Obama going to end these wars? Isn’t that one of the things he campaigned on?
I guess he digs being a killing machine. . .
End the wars NOW.
misjustice on July 09 at 6:18 p.m.
Oh, the hue and cry goes out from the peanut gallery; bet these were the same folks that in ‘03 were all gun-ho to invade and destroy a nation which never posed a threat to us…the rah, rah, rah crowd. Now, they blame President Barack Hussein Obama for not cleaning up the chickenhawks messes FAST ENOUGH!
I want to express my condolences to the families and friends of these fallen men, and also want to thank them for their loved ones’ sacrifices.
Unfortunately, they died (and were injured) because the Cheney Administration mis-used our military. What a sad loss.
woamike on July 09 at 7:22 p.m.
Nice try to deflect the reality that BHO is not ending the wars.
They didn’t die because of Cheney, Cheney is LONG gone. No, these wars are now the property of your hero BHO. He is the one who won’t end them. It’s time you grow up and stop blaming Bush/Cheney for everything.
BHO: liberal killing machine- not only doesn’t stop existing wars - he starts others.
johnclarke on July 09 at 7:46 p.m.
Thank you for your ultimate sacrifice, brave soldiers. I am so sorry for your family and loved ones.
pjc on July 09 at 7:56 p.m.
misjustice - Obama is just like Bush, he is continuing these wars. He also added a brand new one with Libya.
Just sayin’….
greenlibertarian on July 09 at 8:25 p.m.
Woamike, The withdrawl of troops from Iraq under Obama is going pretty much exactly as was NEGOTIATED by the Bush Administration and the Iraqi government.
But, since you’ve got Obama Derangement Syndrome, of course you had to throw in an ignorant cheap shot at him. Your political cheap shot derides the honor of these fallen soldiers, but what do you care, it’s about beating down Obama, right?
Sickmaking.
Pathetic.
Two promising young lives snuffed out, and all Woamike can do is bitch about Obama.
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I do want to know what the hell is this about (from the KXLY story, which I encourage everyone to read):
“The first month we arrived, we were working non-stop,” Sergeant First Class Henry Carr, Rhino’s platoon sergeant from Post Falls, said. “We ran three times a day and one time at night for 20 hours a day. My guys would run from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. That is what we were doing and it was killing us.” (emphasis added)
I’m sure THAT’S Obama’s fault too, in woamike’s deluded and ignorant opinion. Way to go, supporting the troops. Not.
I personally would like to know why the LT’s and Captains are pushing these formerly “week-end warriors”, soldiers and non-coms to work 20 hours a day running convoys thru the meatgrinder that has been the road back and forth from the airport to the Green Zone for, like forever now.
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My sincere condolences to and prayers for the families of these slain Guardsman. Remember them in their good times.
May God’s peace be with you
woamike on July 09 at 9:33 p.m.
Greenlib,
Your newfound hyper-patriotism and attacks on me cannot mask the fact that your hero, BHO, is a killing machine who does not play second fiddle to the man you despise (Bush) when it comes to “war-mongering”.
While you profess your cheap sympathy to the family of the fallen, what are you doing to stop the madness so that others will not die in like fashion in the future?
Do even try to cheap-shot me saying I “deride the honor of these fallen soldiers”. I was on active duty for 22+ years and was in three “wars” myself. I have two sons that will be commissioned as officers next April. I will be flying the remains of soldiers killed in these misguided wars home to Dover TONIGHT from Ramstein. I know PERSONALLY what it means to serve, sacrifice and lose comrades. YOU just bluster while you attempt to defend the indefensible.
Crawl back to your liberal hole and smoke a bowl.
misjustice on July 09 at 9:36 p.m.
“Two promising young lives snuffed out, and all Woamike can do is bitch about Obama.”
Well, it’s not like he can cast blame where it should be put; on himself and the other jingoistic rah, rah, rah, run to war chickenhawks that wanted revenge; at any cost, even against a nation which posed no threat to us…
We were lead to war with cherry picked intel, or as I prefer to call it - OUT RIGHT F’IN LIES - and now those same a$$hats want to blame President Barack Hussein Obama for not cleaning up the mess that THEY made…
Sickening…and rather wormlike…
Just sayin’…
woamike on July 09 at 9:50 p.m.
MJ,
You are pathetic and sick for continually writing the same old bucket of lies and crap. You have NO idea what you’re talking about - you are nothing but a partisan hack who has been beguilded by the silver tongue of the emperor with no clothes.
D Statler on July 09 at 10:01 p.m.
As a parent and American, My deepest regrets for all the families that have given so much for our government. Right or wrong,this is not the time to dishonor our fallen heroes. These young men were America’s best. I look forward to the day all our kids will come home safely.God Bless the Beyers and Newby families during this tragic time. Our hearts and prayers go out to you.
misjustice on July 09 at 10:02 p.m.
I know jingo, it makes you feel better at night…while you suck your thumb as you drift off to sleep…
Night, night…
; )
force_vector on July 09 at 11:08 p.m.
mis”justice” never ceases to amaze me with her stunning ignorance. Wake up! It’s not 2003, 2004, or even 2010. No, it’s 2011 and you’d be well served to open your eyes to reality. Reality is that your hero is no better than the man you despise. One wore cowboy boots, the other wears air jordans. Other than that, same guy.
misjustice on July 10 at 7:10 a.m.
^ you NEVER amaze me…
Just sayin’…