Two North Idaho soliders killed in Iraq
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June 9, 2011 |
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Specialist
Nathan Byers |
Specialist
Nicholas W. Newby |
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Two North Idaho members of the 116th Cavalry
Brigade Combat team died July 7 in Iraq as part
of Operation New Dawn when their convoy was
attacked by insurgents using an improvised
explosive device. Both men, specialist Nathan R.
Byers, 24, originally from Littleton, Colorado,
but who lived in Coeur d'Alene with his family,
and Specialist Nicholas W. Newby, 20, of Coeur
d'Alene, were assigned to the 145th Brigade
Support Battalion, 116th Cavalry Heavy Brigade
Combat Team, Post Falls.
"This is an extremely sad time for the citizen
soldiers and citizen airmen of the Idaho
National Guard," said major general Gary Sayler,
commanding general of the Idaho National Guard.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family
members of these fine Idaho citizen soldiers,
and we will work to help and support these
families with many types of assistance over the
coming days, weeks, months and years."
Byers leaves behind his wife, Vanessa, and their
daughter, born on Veterans Day, November 11,
2010.
"Nathan was proud of his job and serving our
country," Vanessa said in a statement. "He died
doing something he loved and was such a brave
person. We just have 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 leaves behind his mother, Theresa Hart,
father Wayne Newby, brothers Ryan and Nathan and
many other family members and friends in both
the Coeur d'Alene area and in Connecticut.
"Nick would do anything for anybody who needed
help," his parents said in a statement. "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 going to get orange juice all
over the baby!' Nick was intellectually curious
and an avid reader. He was also a planner, he
researched things, planned out and then followed
through with all he said. He was a great
musician who played many instruments, including
guitar, bass guitar, saxophone and drums. Nick
loved fishing, camping, road trips, learning to
fly as a member of the Civil Air Patrol and
wrestling with his brother. 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."
In the same attack, a third Idaho soldier, staff
sergeant Jason Rzepa, suffered a serious leg
injury and was evacuated to Landstuhl Regional
Medical Center in Germany.
The 116th Cavalry Heavy Brigade Combat Team,
which includes soldiers from Bonners Ferry, is
in the midst of a yearlong deployment in Iraq,
and is expected to return to the United States
in September. The team is made up of
approximately 1,500 Idaho soliders, 600 from
Oregon and 600 from Montana.
Byers and Newby are the first to lose their
lives through what has been two deployments to
Iraq. |
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