Free Republic

Just to refresh your memory, seeing as how the media has so absolutely and completely dropped ANY interest in this story (it's not like either one of them was a blond co-ed vacationing in Aruba): Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker (age 25) and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca (age 23) Captured June 16, 2006 by subhuman savages in Iraq, these two young soldiers were found three days later along a roadside decapitated, hearts cut out, testicles cut off, penises cut off and stuffed in their mouths, arms and legs broken and mutilated, bodies burned and eyes gouged out. Their bodies and faces, pulped...

Slain soldier's brother skeptical of group's claim He doubts that Menchaca, a 2nd soldier could have been linked to rape suspects HARLINGEN - The brother of slain Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca said Tuesday that he is skeptical of an al-Qaida-linked group's claim that it killed Menchaca and another U.S. soldier more than three months after troops from their unit allegedly raped and killed a young Iraqi woman. Julio Cesar Vasquez, the older brother of Menchaca, said he does not think the suspected al-Qaida insurgents could have linked the two slain soldiers to the rape suspects. ''It could be, but how...

The recent deaths of the two young American soldiers in Iraq are another extremely painful reminder of the unnecessary war we are fighting in Iraq and its tragic consequences. On behalf of the American Muslim community, I extend our sincerest condolences to the families of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, and Pfc. Thomas Tucker, 25, for their tragic loss. We are deeply disturbed by the way they were barbarically tortured and killed. We do not know for sure who perpetrated these crimes or who the killers were. They could be insurgents, al-Qaida affiliates or just petty criminals. Regardless, there is no...

BROWNSVILLE — The remains of Texas soldier captured and brutalized in Iraq were buried Wednesday following a funeral mass attended by hundreds of veterans, local residents, and area dignitaries and officiated by a Catholic bishop and a dozen area priests. Pfc. Kristian Menchaca was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and a Prisoner of War medal. Menchaca, 23, was one of three soldiers to die after a June 16 insurgent attack at the checkpoint they were guarding. He and another soldier, Pfc. Thomas Tucker of Madras, Ore., went missing for three days before their mutilated and booby-trapped bodies were recovered....

— The body of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, arrived at the Brownsville airport Monday in a solemn ceremony broken only by the sobs of his young widow. Eighteen-year-old Christina Menchaca of Big Spring, Texas received her husband’s body shortly after noon, surrounded by family, her little boy, and Rev. Carlos Villarreal. They watched as 11 members of the 101st Screaming Eagles Military Funeral Detachment team provided full honors as they carried the varnished brown coffin from a chartered Falcon jet to a waiting hearse. The coffin was draped with an American flag. “He was a young man who had...

Of course this isn't suprising in the least. It is sickening and outrageous however. Via KATU The memorial service for PVT Tucker, is scheduled to be held Saturday, July 1 at the following location: Deschutes County Fairgrounds Expo Center 3800 S.W. Airport Way Redmond, Oregon Flags At Half-Staff Monday, June 26 The memorial service at the Expo Center will be open to the public. A private internment, which is not open to the public, will follow at the Mt. Jefferson Memorial Park Cemetery in Madras. A small group of people from the Westboro Baptist Church out of Topeka, Kansas have...

Inquiry to focus on why they were alone, a possible protocol violation TIKRIT, IRAQ - Two missing soldiers whose mutilated bodies were found after a massive search had been left alone at a checkpoint near Baghdad while other vehicles in their patrol inspected traffic, a military spokesman said Thursday. Soon after Pfc. Kristian Menchaca of Houston and another private vanished and another soldier was killed last Friday, one Iraqi told reporters that insurgents had managed to separate a three-Humvee convoy by opening fire and forcing two of the vehicles to give chase. Other Iraqis told reporters that the vehicle carrying...

LANDSTUHL, Germany — Find the missing soldiers and get to them before the worst could happen. That’s what was going through the mind of Spc. Joshua Gutierrez late Friday and early Saturday as he was driving a Bradley fighting vehicle during a mission to locate Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Army Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore. “They’re soldiers,” said an emotional Gutierrez from a bed in the intensive care unit at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. “Just like me. They’re soldiers. Just like me.” Gutierrez was one of 12 troops wounded in the search for...

If in the case of Iraq there has been any lessening of resolve among the American electorate, and to read the newspapers and listen to a great many television pundits one might certainly think there has, the events of the past 48 hours should put these doubts to rest. American forces have recovered the remains of two soldiers, Privates Thomas Tucker and Kristian Menchaca, ambushed and kidnapped at a check point in the aptly named “Triangle of Death” south of Baghdad. Specialist David Babineau, died in the attack and was not captured. Iraqi Major General Abdul-Aziz Mohammed Jassim, director of...

YUSUFIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Two slain U.S. soldiers who went missing south of Baghdad were ambushed by as many as 30 insurgents who closed in on them in vehicles and opened fire, according to people who said on Wednesday they were witnesses. It was not possible to independently verify their accounts. The U.S. military has yet to explain how the soldiers may have been isolated in what Iraqis call "The Triangle of Death" for its frequent insurgent attacks. But two Iraqis who said they were witnesses gave similar accounts of the moments when Privates First Class Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25,...

I'm mad.The New York Times wants closed. The San Jose Mercury News claims that Gitmo nurtures a culture of death. The Cleveland Plain Dealer wants Gitmo closed. Journalists and editorial staffs are up in arms that there might possibly be some kind of torture occurring. So what do they say when torture OBVIOUSLY occurs? How do they react when two U.S. servicemen — in -approved uniforms — have their hearts cut out, their testicles cut off, their penises cut off and stuffed in their mouths, arms contorted and eyes gouged? THIS is torture.

Updated: 13:36, Monday June 19, 2006 A terrorist group linked to al Qaeda says it has kidnapped two US soldiers in Iraq.In a statement posted on the internet, it said the pair were snatched near Yusufiya.  American and Iraqi forces have been searching for two soldiers who went missing after an attack on a checkpoint near Yusufiya on Friday.One solider was killed in the attack.More follows ...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi farmer said Sunday that he saw seven heavily armed gunmen capture two American soldiers during an attack on a road checkpoint south of Baghdad, while U.S. troops searched for their comrades for a second day. Another Iraqi said the Americans were offering $100,000 for information leading to the abductors, but the U.S. command denied that. The White House promised to do everything it could to find the soldiers and said it had a message for anybody who may have taken the two men: "Give them back." Gunmen, meanwhile, kidnapped 10 bakery workers in Baghdad, and...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- An Iraqi farmer said Sunday that he saw seven heavily armed gunmen capture two American soldiers during an attack on a road checkpoint south of Baghdad, while U.S. troops searched for their comrades for a second day. Another Iraqi said the Americans were offering $100,000 for information leading to the abductors, but the U.S. command denied that. The White House promised to do everything it could to find the soldiers and said it had a message for anybody who may have taken the two men: "Give them back." Gunmen, meanwhile, kidnapped 10 bakery workers in Baghdad,...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi witnesses say they saw two U.S. soldiers who survived an attack at a checkpoint near Baghdad being led away by masked insurgents to a pair of cars, The New York Times is reporting in its Sunday edition.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. troops searched Sunday for two missing soldiers in the volatile Sunni triangle south of Baghdad as witnesses claimed the Americans were led away by masked gunmen after the attack that left one of their comrades dead. Ground forces, helicopters and airplanes fanned out shortly after Friday's attack and U.S. military spokesman U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said Saturday that four raids had been carried out. He said a dive team also was to search for the men, whose checkpoint was near a Euphrates River canal not far from Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad -...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A farmer claiming to have witnessed an attack on a U.S. military checkpoint said Sunday that insurgents swarmed the scene, killing the driver of a Humvee before taking two of his comrades captive. The U.S. military has only said the soldiers are missing. U.S. troops, backed by helicopters and warplanes, fanned out across the "Triangle of Death" south of Baghdad searching for the missing servicemen. At least four raids had been carried out, but the captives were not found, the military said. Another local resident said the soldiers searched houses on Sunday and promised a $100,000 reward...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. troops searched Saturday for two soldiers that went missing after an attack that killed one of their comrades at a traffic checkpoint in the so-called "Triangle of Death" just south of Baghdad, the military said. U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said four raids had been carried out since Friday's attack and that ground forces, helicopters and airplanes were taking part in the search. Countrywatch: Iraq The soldiers came under attack at a traffic checkpoint southwest of Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad. A quick reaction force arrived at the scene after hearing small arms fire...

The New York Times reported that Iraqi residents in the area said they saw two soldiers taken prisoner by a group of masked guerrillas. It said the two surviving soldiers were led to two cars and driven away.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 17 — American soldiers began an intensive search on Saturday for two of their comrades who apparently were captured by masked insurgents after an ambush in the chaotic area south of the capital. [...] According to local Iraqis in the area, who were interviewed by telephone from Baghdad, the two American soldiers who survived the gun battle were led away by the insurgents to a pair of waiting cars. Hassan Abdul Hadi was tending to his date and apple trees near the village of Qaraghul when he heard gunfire and explosions. When he walked to the road,...

Coalition, Iraqis Launch Massive Search for Missing Soldiers By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service BAGHDAD, June 17, 2006 – Coalition and Iraqi officials have launched a massive search operation for two coalition soldiers missing following an incident in Yusufiyah, Iraq, yesterday. Multinational Force Iraq spokesman Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said today a third soldier was killed in the fight. The names are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The soldiers were manning a checkpoint at a canal crossing near the Euphrates River. Forces at a nearby traffic-control point heard an explosion and small-arms fire at about...

Fox news reports General Caldwell will have briefing regarding missing soldiers. Coming up......

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military says two soldiers are missing after their team came under attack at a traffic control point in Yusafiyah, Iraq Friday night, that left one other coalition soldier dead.

BAGHDAD, Iraq Jun 16, 2006 (AP)— A soldier in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq was killed and two others were missing after an attack on a checkpoint southwest of Baghdad on Friday, the U.S. military said. The attacked took place around 8 p.m. near the town of Yusufiyah, about 12 miles southwest of Baghdad. "After hearing small arms fire and explosions in the vicinity of the checkpoint, a quick reaction force responded to the scene," a military statement said. "Coalition forces have initiated a search operation to locate and determine the status of the soldiers." The statement didn't provide any...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military reported that two U.S. soldiers were missing and one was dead after their traffic control point was attacked near Yusufiyah Friday night. After hearing an explosion and small-arms fire a U.S. military quick-reaction force responded to find the one soldier killed but no sign of the other two. A search was under way.

Military: At Least One Kidnapped Soldier Beheaded POSTED: 2:58 pm EDT June 21, 2006 UPDATED: 3:17 pm EDT June 21, 2006 PENTAGON -- A defense official in Washington said militants beheaded at least one and maybe both of the soldiers who vanished in Iraq Friday. The description confirms fears raised by U.S. and Iraqi officials who said the bodies were mutilated. A final report on the bodies hasn't been released formally. A posting on a militant Web site Tuesday said al-Qaida-in-Iraq's new leader had "slaughtered" the soldiers. The language in the statement suggested beheading. The remains are due at Dover...

1 hour, 20 minutes ago Contact: Sharon Singh of Amnesty International USA, 202-544-0200 ext. 289 WASHINGTON, June 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA's executive director, made the following statement in response to the alleged killing and torture of two U.S. soldiers in Ramadi, Iraq: "Amnesty International, first and foremost, extends its sincerest condolences to the families of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker for their tragic loss. We are deeply disturbed by reports that these two soldiers were brutally tortured. These reports, if proven true, may rise to the level of war crimes. Amnesty International...

The horrific deaths of two American servicemen kidnapped in Iraq on Friday may bring the war into a new phase - and force politicians, media stars and Americans generally to put real meaning behind the meaningless guarantee that "we all support the troops." Previous American kidnap victims have been unarmed civilians - contractors and journalists who were not trained to kill. The decision to snatch soldiers changes things, which was almost surely the point. Privates Thomas Tucker and Kristian Menchaca, may God protect their souls, were taken from a checkpoint they were manning; one of their comrades in arms, David...

Two American soldiers, missing since an insurgent ambush at the checkpoint they were manning last Friday, were found dead Monday night on a street just south of Baghdad. An Iraqi General confirmed to the Associated Press that the soldiers’ bodies showed “signs of torture,” and that the men appeared to have been killed in a particularly “barbaric” way. This assertion appears to be backed up both by the fact that DNA tests were required to positively identify the remains, and by the claim of responsibility made by the self-titled new leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, who posted on an Islamist...

Two American soldiers, missing since an insurgent ambush at the checkpoint they were manning last Friday, were found dead Monday night on a street just south of Baghdad. An Iraqi General confirmed to the Associated Press that the soldiers’ bodies showed “signs of torture,” and that the men appeared to have been killed in a particularly “barbaric” way. This assertion appears to be backed up both by the fact that DNA tests were required to positively identify the remains, and by the claim of responsibility made by the self-titled new leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, who posted on an Islamist...

MADRAS, Ore. — Two days before Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker disappeared in Iraq, he called friends to let them know his unit would be searching vehicles in an increasingly violent part of the country and he would be out of telephone and Internet contact. "He just kind of told me that it was going to be dangerous," said Margee Hagedorn, Tucker's friend since middle school. "But he told me he was probably going to be going on a little vacation after he got back." Instead, Tucker, 25, an Army infantryman based at Fort Campbell, Ky., and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca...

A senior Iraqi military official said Tuesday the bodies of two missing U.S. soldiers have been found near the town where they went missing, but the U.S. military said it could not confirm the report. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed said the bodies were found on a street near a power plant in the town of Youssifiyah, just south of Baghdad. U.S. Maj. Doug Powell said he could not confirm the report. The two men went missing Friday after an attack that killed one of their comrades. Earlier Tuesday, a parked minivan exploded in a busy outdoor market in a Baghdad...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A senior Iraqi military official said Tuesday the bodies of two missing U.S. soldiers have been found near the town where they went missing, but the U.S. military said it could not confirm the report. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed said the bodies were found on a street near a power plant in the town of Youssifiyah, just south of Baghdad. U.S. Maj. Doug Powell said he could not confirm the report. The two men went missing Friday after an attack that killed one of their comrades. Earlier Tuesday, a parked minivan exploded in a busy outdoor market...

by Mark Finkelstein June 20, 2006 For a TV host, there's nothing much more difficult than interviewing a family member of someone who has been killed or seriously harmed. So when the uncle of one of the US soldiers kidnapped and possibly killed in Iraq called for the offering of a massive ransom and a prisoner exchange, give Matt Lauer credit for having had the courage to challenge him. Here's how it went down. Lauer: "A group linked to al-Qaeda on its website has claimed that they actually took Kristian and another soldier. What's your reaction to that?" Replied Ken...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The bodies of two U.S. soldiers have been found near where the men went missing, a senior Iraqi military official said Tuesday, but the U.S. military said it could not confirm the report. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed said the bodies of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., were found on a street near a power plant in the town of Youssifiyah, just south of Baghdad. U.S. Maj. Doug Powell said he could not confirm the report. The soldiers came under attack Friday at a traffic checkpoint...

In his calls and notes from Iraq, Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca told relatives about his dangerous assignment at military checkpoints. His family is now hoping for the 23-year-old Houston soldier's safe return after learning he was one of two servicemen missing in Iraq after an insurgent attack. An umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq claimed in a statement Monday that it had kidnapped the two U.S. soldiers, but it did not name them. There was no immediate confirmation that the statement was credible, although it appeared on a Web site often used by al-Qaida-linked groups. "I was 95 percent...

I don't often post vanities, but in light of the brutal killing of two soldiers in Iraq, I want to draw attention to one of the most remarkable media stories I have ever seen. It is a story of how our military notifies the families of the death of a loved one in battle, and the support and compassion given from the initial notification to the funeral and burial. The story won two well-deserved Pulitzer's (unlike that of the NY Times who won by revealing NSA secrets). There are many FR threads on the subject and I encourage you to...

Signs of 'barbaric' torture; U.S. military awaiting positive ID from DNA BAGHDAD, Iraq - The bodies of two U.S. soldiers reported captured last week have been found and the men appear to have been "killed in a barbaric way," a senior Iraqi general said Tuesday. A statement posted on a militant Islamic Web site said the two men were killed by the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the remains, found late Monday by American troops, were believed to be those of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25,...

DALLAS (AP) - The uncle of a U.S. soldier who disappeared after a firefight in Iraq lashed out at the government Tuesday after learning two bodies had reportedly been found not far from where his nephew and another soldier were last seen. ``The news is going to be heartbreaking for my family,'' Ken MacKenzie, uncle of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, told NBC's ``Today'' show. ``Because the U.S. government did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid for it with his life,'' he said. `I think the U.S. government was too slow to react to this,'' MacKenzie said....

Thanks to John Little for linking to PFC Tucker's last recorded phone message to his family: Be proud of me Mom, I'm defending my country. Tell sis and my nephews hello for me, I'm OK, I'm on my way.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi military official said Tuesday that the bodies of two missing U.S. soldiers showed signs of torture, and that men appeared to have been killed "in a barbaric way." Also, the umbrella group for Iraqi insurgents claimed responsibility for the soldiers' deaths. "We give the good news ... to the Islamic nation that we have carried God's verdict by slaughtering the two captured crusaders," said a statement in the name of the Mujahedeen Shura Council, which groups five insurgent organizations including al-Qaida in Iraq. At a news briefing, U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell declined to identify...

``The news is going to be heartbreaking for my family,'' Ken MacKenzie, uncle of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, told NBC's ``Today'' show. ``Because the U.S. government did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid for it with his life,'' he said..."

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The U.S. military recovered the bodies Tuesday of two missing soldiers from an area it said was rigged with explosives. An Iraqi official said the Americans were tortured and killed in a "barbaric" way. An insurgent group claimed the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq executed the men personally, but it offered no evidence. The U.S. military did not confirm whether the soldiers died from wounds suffered in an attack Friday or were kidnapped and later killed. The discovery of the bodies dealt a new setback to U.S. efforts to seize the momentum against al-Qaida in...

This morning, various media outlets began reporting that Al-Qaida had issued a statement claiming that newly designated Al-Qaida commander in Iraq Abu Hamza al-Muhajir had personally executed two U.S. soldiers kidnapped from a traffic checkpoint in Al-Yousifiya several days ago. That statement gained credibility when the U.S. military found the bodies of the two men, apparently mutilated as described in the online claim. There are two key points that must be made regarding this would-be Al-Qaida document: 1.) It is indeed true that yesterday (June 19) the Al-Qaida umbrella group known as the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) claimed responsibility for...

US soldiers' bodies found in Iraq Kristian Menchaca and flags raised at Thomas Tucker's Oregon home Two US soldiers missing in Iraq since Friday have been found dead south of Baghdad, the US military has said.The bodies were found in the Yusifiya area on Monday. An Iraqi defence ministry spokesman said the bodies had shown signs of torture. An insurgent group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq, which claimed it abducted the men, has now said that it killed them. The missing men have been named as Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker, both from the 101st Airborne Division. Another US...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The bodies of two U.S. soldiers found in Iraq Monday night were mutilated and booby-trapped, military sources said Tuesday. Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker went missing after a Friday attack on a traffic control checkpoint in Yusufiya, 12 miles (20 km) south of Baghdad. The sources said the two men had suffered severe trauma. The bodies also had been desecrated, and a visual identification was impossible -- part of the reason DNA testing was being conducted to verify their identities, the sources said.

breaking

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 20 — The American military said today that it had found the remains of what appears to be the two American soldiers captured by insurgents last week in an ambush south of the capital, and a senior Iraqi military official said the two men had been "brutally tortured." SNIP Maj. Gen. Abdul Azziz Mohammed Jassim, the chief of operations of the Ministry of Defense, said that he had seen an official report and that he could confirm the two Americans had been "killed in a very brutal way and tortured." "There were traces of torture on their...

U.S. forces on Tuesday recovered the bodies of two American soldiers reported captured by insurgents last week. An Iraqi defense ministry official said the men were tortured and "killed in a barbaric way." Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for killing the soldiers, and said the successor to terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had "slaughtered" them. The claim was made in a Web statement that could not be authenticated. The language in the statement suggested the men were beheaded. U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the remains were believed to be those of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Pfc....

DUBAI (Reuters) - The new leader of al Qaeda in Iraq "slit the throats" of two U.S. soldiers whose bodies were found in Baghdad, according to a statement posted on the Internet on Tuesday. "God Almighty has graced the leader Abu Hamza al-Muhajir ... with the implementation of the sentence," said a statement from the al Qaeda-led Mujahideen Shura Council. It said the two had been killed by having their throats slit. The statement could not be authenticated. It was posted on one Web forum used by Islamists, but not on the main site used by Iraqi insurgent groups. The...