I have not seen this diaried yet so I thought it worth sharing.
This comes just a week or so following the deaths of some 15-20 Ohio marines in action in Iraq.
Five Pa. Guard soldiers killed in 2d attack in Iraq
Five Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers, including a Philadelphia police officer and a Montgomery County firefighter, were killed late yesterday in Iraq - the second time in three days that the state Guard had been hit with combat deaths.
At least four other Pennsylvania guard soldiers were reported wounded in what U.S. officials in Baghdad described as a roadside bomb attack about 11:30 p.m. yesterday near Beiji in northern Iraq.
A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said four of the men killed at 11:30 p.m. were members of the same unit that had sustained two deaths Saturday - Alpha Company of the First Battalion of the 111th Infantry, based at the Southampton Road armory in Northeast Philadelphia.
First official word of the Guard deaths came at midday today from Gov. Rendell.
"Seven guardsmen in less than four days - it brings home the crushing reality of this war," Rendell told reporters in Harrisburg.
It is unclear at this point whether the five Pennsylvania guard soldiers killed on Tuesday were part of the same or a different group as the four soldiers reported killed in Beiji by US officials.
The Washington Post listed the names of some of the fallen Pennsylvania soldiers, but few details were given on where or how they died.
The five killed Tuesday include Gennaro Pellegrini Jr., a 31-year-old Philadelphia police officer; John Kulick, a 35-year-old firefighter from Montgomery County; and Nathaniel DeTample, the 19-year-old son of a Bucks County detective.
The National Guard declined to say Wednesday how or when the three died, or to confirm the deaths of the two other soldiers Rendell was counting. Two additional Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers were killed Saturday in Iraq.
National Guard officials planned news conferences Thursday, said Guard spokesman, Capt. Cory P. Angell.
Given the number of Pennsylvania guardsmen in Iraq --about 3,000 troops--the state has been "relatively lucky," Rendell said.
In Ohio, the 3rd Battalion Marines' Lima Company recently lost 16 Marine reservists over a 10-day period.
Just weeks before Pellegrini left to train for Iraq, he won his first professional boxing match with a fourth-round knockout at the famed Blue Horizon club in Philadelphia.
"He had a lot of heart, a lot of determination," said police Capt. Lou Campione, Pellegrini's superior officer. "He was there for you. He covered your back."
Whitpain Township Fire Marshal David M. Camarda learned of Kulick's death early Wednesday. Kulick was the township's assistant fire marshal and had worked in the department for seven years.
"John was just a dependable individual," he said. "He was the guy that if the shift started at 9:30 p.m., he was there at 8:30 to make sure everything got done right."
DeTample, a graduate of Pennsbury High School, was the son of police detective Glenn DeTample in Lower Makefield Township. "He was loved by all the police officers. He was a good, good boy," said township Police Chief Kenneth Coluzzi.
The recent list of the dead also includes Sgt. Brahim Jeffcoat, 25, of Philadelphia, and Spc. Kurt Krout, 43, of Spinnerstown. Both died Saturday when their convoy struck a bomb 60 miles north of Baghdad.
This appears to be yet another noble sacrifice of the Iraq war that Bush and the Corporate broadcast media seem to be trying to sweep under the rug.