Our prayers go out to the family and friends of Sgt. Jacob Thompson. The Rochester Post Bulletin and the Mankato Free Press carry the story:
A soldier from North Mankato who was scheduled to return to the United States next month was killed in Iraq, his family said Tuesday.
Army Staff Sgt. Jacob Thompson and two other soldiers were killed when a bomb exploded while they were searching a house in Baqubah, according to the soldier's father, Charlie Thompson. He said Jacob Thompson worked with a Stryker unit that searched out targets before calling in other forces.
Strykers are tank-like machines that are heavily equipped with electronics, but have less fire power than tanks.
Thompson was slated to return to Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Wash., in May but his unit was one of several that were extended for three months to support a surge of U.S. troops in Iraq, his father said. Jacob Thompson told his family he would be traveling to Kuwait before returning to Fort Lewis around Sept. 13.
"I could tell he was concerned about Baqubah," Charlie Thompson said. "I honestly believe he was afraid something was coming just because of a lot of the things he said."
The Strib has a fine story about Thompson.
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