Army Staff Sgt. Alicia A. Birchett

Died August 9, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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29, of Mashpee, Mass.; assigned to the 887th Engineer Company, 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Aug. 9 of injuries sustained in a non-combat-related accident in Baghdad.

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101st Airborne soldier was mom to 3, member of Mass. tribe

The Associated Press

MASHPEE, Mass. — An Army sergeant and mother of three died in Iraq after being injured when the brakes of a truck failed while she changed a tire, her family said.

Staff Sgt. Alicia Birchett, 29, died Aug. 9 in Baghdad, the Department of Defense said Wednesday. Birchett, a member of the Wampanoag tribe, is the second woman from Massachusetts to die in Iraq.

She was an engineer mechanic assigned to the 887th Engineer Company, 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Family members said Birchett was an adventurous, practical and dedicated woman who joined the military immediately after graduating from Falmouth (Mass.) High School in 1995. She also served tours of duty in Germany and Korea.

"Joining the Army was her way of contributing to the world and seeing the world," her cousin Beatrice Jackson said.

Since learning of her death, more than a dozen members of Birchett's family have continuously watched over a small outdoor fireplace at the home of her aunt. Tribal tradition says flames should burn from when a person dies until they are buried.

They plan to bury Birchett on Aug. 18 during a ceremony at the Old Indian Cemetery in Mashpee.

"No disrespect to the [military] service, but she's our tribe and that's why we're burying her with our people," said Laverne Jackson, Birchett's aunt.

Birchett had lived in Waynesboro, Tenn. She is survived by her husband and her three sons, ages 2, 4 and 7.

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Mass. soldiers killed in Iraq buried amid military, Indian honors

The Associated Press

MASHPEE, Mass. — Mashpee Indians chanted to the open sky as a military honor guard fired a volley and played “Taps” during the funeral Aug. 18 of an Army sergeant who died in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Alicia Birchett, a member of the Wampanoag tribe, is the second woman from Massachusetts to die in Iraq.

The 29-year-old — affectionately known as “Little Brown Bee” — died Aug. 9 in Baghdad.

Her family said she was fatally injured when the brakes of a truck failed while she changed a tire.

Birchett had lived in Waynesboro, Tenn. She is survived by her husband and her three sons, ages 2, 4 and 7.

Joe Lius Birchett told New England Cable News that Birchett “is a true patriot.”

“She was always my hero, so that’s what really matters to me,” he said on NECN.

Birchett was an engineer mechanic assigned to the 887th Engineer Company, 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Relatives said Birchett was an adventurous, practical and dedicated woman who joined the military immediately after graduating from Falmouth High School in 1995. She also served tours of duty in Germany and Korea.

Gov. Deval Patrick was greeted by sobbing relatives when he arrived for the funeral is at the Old Indian Burial Ground in Mashpee.

At least 40 Patriot Guard Riders — motorcyclists who attend funerals of fallen soldiers — formed a wall of leather jackets and American flags behind the mourners, according to the Cape Cod Times.

About nine members of Birchett’s military unit lined up on the left of the mourners. An honor guard from Fort Drum, N.Y., shot off a volley and played “Taps,” the newspaper reported. Birchett was buried during a tribal and military ceremony at the Old Indian Cemetery in Mashpee.

More than 3,700 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. About 60 were from Massachusetts. Another 11 Bay State residents have died in Afghanistan.