Army Sgt. Alphonso J. Montenegro II

Died June 21, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

22, of Far Rockaway, N.Y.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany; died June 21 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Also killed were Sgt. Ryan M. Wood, Pfc. Daniel J. Agami, Pfc. Anthony D. Hebert and Pfc. Thomas R. Leemhuis.

---

Family remember soldier killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

Army Sgt. Alphonso J. Montenegro II made sure to call his mother and arrange for flowers to be delivered on Mother’s Day. He called again on June 9, his 22nd birthday. He was thrilled that a package from home had arrived that very day.

“Candy and potato chips,” said his mother, Sandra Montenegro.

“He called to say thank you. He was so happy.”

Montenegro, of New York City, was killed June 21 by an explosive in Baghdad. He was assigned to Schweinfurt, Germany.

His mother still called him “Fofo.” “When he was little, he couldn’t say ‘Alphonso,’ He said, ‘Fofo,’ so we kept that name for him forever,” she said.

After his grandmother died from cancer, he announced he was going into medicine. On the day he died, he volunteered to go out on tour.

“The commander said he was always there for the other soldiers,” she said. “And he saved many lives. All his friends are devastated just like us, because that was his family there.”

In December, before shipping out, Montenegro, who usually did not like to have his picture taken, made a request.

“He told me he wanted a picture of us together,” his mother said.

---

Unit’s bond forged by loss of comrades

By Michelle Tan

Staff writer

ADHAMIYAH, Iraq — There is no shortage of jokes, pranks and trash talk among the soldiers of C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry.

But underneath the laughter is a bond cemented by the heavy losses suffered by these young men in the seven months they have spent at Forward Operating Base Apache in Adhamiyah, one of the last Sunni strongholds in Baghdad.

The company has lost six soldiers, and each platoon has shared in those crushing losses.

Second Platoon has been most heavily hit: four of the six soldiers killed in action belonged to that platoon.

“Because we’ve had so many losses in the platoon, I know for a fact the bond in the platoon is much tighter,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tim Ybay, who serves as the platoon leader. “I talked to them before we all left, and my goal was to bring all 38 home. I take every loss personally.”

To cope with the pain of losing a brother-in-arms, Ybay, 38, said he talks to his soldiers.

“We talk a lot,” he said. “We talk about the good times we had with the soldier, we talk about the first time he got to the unit. We never think about the bad memories — it’s always the good memories.”

Adhamiyah, in east Baghdad, is home to many Saddam Hussein loyalists, former Baath Party members and former Iraqi army generals, said Capt. Mike Baka, commander of C Company. Also in Adhamiyah is the Abu Hanifa mosque, a large Sunni mosque that serves as the focal point of the district.

“This is the last location Saddam Hussein spoke before he went into hiding,” Baka said. “On November 5th, when the Saddam verdict came out, we had a pretty large uprising.”

Five minutes after the former dictator was sentenced to death for the massacre of Iraqi citizens, the soldiers started receiving fire from both sides of the river. The five-hour battle resulted in 38 enemy fighters killed and more than 10 wounded.

The soldiers have come under every type of attack imaginable, said Sgt. 1st Class Cedric Thomas, platoon sergeant for 1st Platoon.

“The attacks have decreased, but we usually get attacked really good once a month, then it calms down,” he said. “And when you think it’s really good, you get another attack again. It’s something you end up expecting.”

THREW HIMSELF ON GRENADE

The insurgents in Adhamiyah sometimes use grenades against American forces. Spc. Ross McGinnis, a soldier in Thomas’ platoon, was killed Dec. 4 when he threw himself on a grenade that was thrown into his Humvee. The 19-year-old saved Thomas’ life and that of three other soldiers; he has been nominated for the Medal of Honor.

“McGinnis had a big impact and influence on the platoon,” Thomas said. “He was so sharp. These guys really looked up to him. When you lose something like that so fast, it took about a month to get my guys’ minds on track. But we still patrolled, we still went out of the wire together.”

Thomas, 30, said he relies on the other two platoon sergeants for support when dealing with the loss of a soldier.

“When one of us has a loss, we’re always there for each other,” he said. “My platoon, the guys were tight anyway. Now everyone’s lost someone, it’s really a tight group.”

Despite shouldering more than their fair share of loss, the soldiers of C Company continue to push forward, strengthened by the camaraderie that only those who share combat together can fully understand.

They maintain a nearly constant presence on the streets of Adhamiyah, patrolling the neighborhoods day and night.

They have detained many high-value targets and seized illegal weapons. They sweep into houses looking for insurgents, but at the same time comfort children frightened by the sight of heavily armed American soldiers.

“It’s hard, but you’ve got to get through the hard times, and we’re doing that as a family,” Baka said. “We have a mission to do, and we’re doing it and trying to get everyone else home in one piece.”

Ybay said he’s proud of his soldiers and what they’ve accomplished.

“We just take it one day at a time,” Ybay said. “I went home on leave and my job is to have a good time with my family, but this is my other family here. I couldn’t stop worrying about them.”

Sgt. Ryan Wood, 22, who’s in 2nd Platoon, said he copes by sticking on his headphones and listening to music.

“Everybody copes differently,” he said. “Everybody’s real close. Like we say, [Ybay] is the twisted father, we’re all his kids and he takes care of us.”

Wood, who was stop-lossed to deploy to Iraq, said he’s changed since he got here in August.

“Going on R&R, I didn’t take anything for granted,” he said.

Wood said he plans to leave the Army when his tour is over.

“I’ve seen enough, I’ve done enough,” he said.

Pfc. Armando Cardenas, 21, who also is in 2nd Platoon, said the situation in Adhamiyah has improved since the soldiers arrived.

“It was trashed when we got here,” he said. “People are reporting IEDs now. That’s a step forward.”

But Cardenas admits he sometimes is frustrated by how slow progress can be.

“I wish we could do more for the people, but they don’t want to cooperate,” he said. “There’s not much we can do without their help.”

‘ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS’

The death of Sgt. Willsun Mock in October was especially tough on Cardenas.

“He was one of my best friends,” he said. “You hope you never have to go through it but you do. We don’t take anybody for granted anymore.”

Sgt. Alphonso Montenegro, 21, who also was stop-lossed to deploy to Iraq, lost his squad leader, Staff Sgt. Garth Sizemore, and Mock, one of his best friends.

“He was my brother,” Montenegro said about Mock. “He taught me everything about being a leader; he helped me study for the [promotion] board.”

Mock was killed in an IED attack, and Montenegro said he was very angry.

“I wanted to relieve my anger,” he said. “They kept us in for four days. I think it’s good I didn’t go [outside the wire]. It was hard, but I have to move on.”

For those who served with the company in Balad in 2004 and 2005, this deployment to Adhamiyah has been much more challenging, said Sgt. James Lesco, 24, of 1st Platoon.

“The last time, I lost one friend,” he said. “This time, the company’s lost six, and three of them were actually good friends. It’s reality, so we just have to get through it. I think now we value each other more.”