FORT HOOD, Texas-
Three soldiers assigned to Fort Hood have died in a bombing in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense said Wednesday.
Spc. Blake Harris, 22, of Pueblo, Colo., Spc. Ryan D. Russell, 22, of Elm City, N.C., and Pvt. Barry W. Mayo, 21, of Ecru, Miss., died Monday when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in Baqubah, the military said.
Harris and Russell were assigned to the 1st Squadron, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division. Mayo was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division.
Russell, a medic, was aiding soldiers whose Humvee had been hit by a spring-loaded improvised explosive device when a second device went off, family friend Barbara Whitehead told The Daily Reflector of Greenville, N.C.
“Ryan was rushing to help his soldiers,” Whitehead said, fighting back emotion. “As a mother, your heart just breaks whenever you hear this.”
Whitehead, whose son is in Russell’s company, said Russell deployed in August.
She said Russell’s mother contacted her shortly after an Army casualty team came to her home in Ayden, a town south of Greenville.
“She was home alone when they showed up,” said Whitehead, who was in Hawaii visiting her new grandchild when she got the phone call.
Whitehead, who directs the Greenville branch of Give2TheTroops, an organization that sends supplies to troops, said she immediately contacted three volunteers to help Russell’s grieving mother.
Russell’s mother recently stopped by the organization and shared photographs that showed her son smiling with Iraqi children.
“Ryan was proud to do this job,” Whitehead said. “He made an impact on this world forever. I want Pitt County to give Ryan a hero’s send-off.”
