Army Spc. Victor M. Fontanilla

Died May 17, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

23, of Stockton, Calif.; assigned to the 725th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska; died May 17 in Iskandariya, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Also killed were Sgt. 1st Class Jesse B. Albrecht and Spc. Coty J. Phelps.

---

5 Fort Richardson paratroopers killed in separate attacks

The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Five paratroopers from Fort Richardson were killed last week in three separate attacks, an Army official said Monday.

On May 18, two paratroopers were killed by small-arms fire, but in different incidents. Those deaths came a day after three Fort Richardson soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Iskandariya.

The two small arms fire deaths were announced May 21.

One paratrooper, whose identity has not been released, died from wounds suffered in Hamiuah.

The other soldier, Sgt. Ryan Baum, 27, of Aurora, Colo., died from wounds he suffered in Karmah, Army Alaska spokesman Capt. Richard C. Hyde said.

Both Baum and the unidentified soldier were assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division. Baum was assigned to Fort Richardson in June 2005.

Army officials also on Monday identified the three soldiers who died May 17 in the bombing incident as:

* Spc. Coty Phelps, 21, of Kingman, Ariz. Phelps was a paralegal who joined the Army in September 2004, and was stationed in Alaska a year later.

* Staff Sgt. Jesse B. Albrecht, 31, of Hager City, Wis. He was a motor transport operator who joined the Army in June 1993 and was assigned to the Alaska base in September 2005.

* Spc. Victor M. Fontanilla, 23, of Stockton, Calif. He also was a motor transport operator who joined the Army in October 2005 and was assigned to Fort Richardson the following April.

A fourth soldier was injured and was transported to the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq, Hyde said.

Albrecht and Fontanilla were assigned to Echo Company, 725th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division. Phelps was assigned to division’s Headquarters Company.

The 3,500-member brigade deployed last fall; since then, 39 paratroopers have been killed, Hyde said.