One Brick Short

UPDATE: I’m not sure where to list another fallen Airborne soldier, so I figured I’d add it at here. The following sentiment still applies:

While serving with a great bastion of journalistic excellence, the now defunct Fayetteville Times in Fayetteville, N.C., I got to know a whole bunch of guys with bad haircuts who served in the 82nd Airborne Division, stationed at Fort Bragg, the U.S.Army’s elite paratrooping fighting force. Good folks and good times, from winging jazz licks in a bar to babysitting very large men at a biker party. So I have a soft spot in my heart for anyone serving with the division.

It’s with a saddened soft spot that I report another one of Fort Bragg’s finest died in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense.

Sgt. Rafael Alicearivera, 30, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, died Feb. 5 in Tallil, Iraq, of injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Previously, this post referred to the death of U.S. Army Spc. Christopher J. West, 26, of Arlington, Texas, who died Feb. 4 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered on Feb. 3 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, after an improvised explosive device detonated during a combat operation. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.