The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

August 10, 2007

Army details local soldier's death

By Dan Nienaber

The death of a North Mankato native and three other soldiers killed in action in Iraq Monday was confirmed Thursday by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Staff Sgt. Jacob M. Thompson, 26, and the other men were killed when an improvised explosive device was detonated in Baqubah. No other details about the incident were released in the Department of Defense report, but military officials said the account given by Thompson’s family is accurate.

Charlie Thompson, Jacob’s father, said Tuesday his son was killed while searching houses with a team of soldiers working with a Stryker unit. Strykers are tank-like machines that have less fire power than tanks. Thompson’s unit used a electronic reconnaissance-equipped Stryker that would identify targets, then call in the forces needed to deal with them, Charlie Thompson said.

The other soldiers killed in the explosion were Sgt. Nicholas A. Gummersall, 23, of Chubbuck, Idaho; Cpl. Juan M. Alcantara, 22, of New York; and Spc. Kareem R. Khan, 20, of Manahawkin, N.J. They were all members of the Army’s First Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, Third Brigade, Second Infantry Division — also known as the Stryker Brigade Combat Team, the report said. They were based at Fort Lewis, Wash.

The report also said Thompson earned several medals during his two tours in Iraq. Those medals include a Purple Heart, two Army Commendation medals, two Army Achievement medals, two Army Good Conduct medals, a National Defense Service medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Expert Infantryman Badge.

Thompson’s mother, Barb Thompson, said her son gave his Purple Heart to another man because he believed that soldier deserved it more than he did. Purple Hearts are awarded to soldiers wounded in combat.

Catherine Karuso, a civilian public affairs specialist at Fort Lewis, said there have been three incidents involving fatalities within that company in fewer than two weeks. A soldier from the Army Ranger battalion at Fort Lewis also was killed during that time frame, resulting in a total of 11 Fort Lewis-based soldiers being killed since July 30, she said.

A detachment of Thompson’s company that is at Fort Lewis is planning a ceremony for Thompson and the others. Those plans have not been set, so it is not clear if there will be a ceremony for each of the men or all of them, Karuso said.

Arrangements for Thompson’s funeral in Mankato are pending with Woodland Hills Funeral Home.

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