Army Staff Sgt. William F. Manuel

Died January 10, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

34, of Kinder, La.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 256th Infantry Brigade, Louisiana Army National Guard, Lake Charles, La.; killed Jan. 10 when an improvised explosive device hit his military vehicle in Baghdad. Also killed was Army Sgt. Robert W. Sweeney III.

---

Louisiana National Guardsman killed in Iraq

Associated Press

PINEVILLE, La. — A Louisiana soldier was killed in Iraq when a roadside bomb blew up the heavily armored Bradley Fighting Vehicle he was in — just four days after a similar attack killed six soldiers from Louisiana.

Killed Monday was Staff Sgt. Bill Manuel of Oberlin, family members said. Also killed in the explosion was Sgt. Robert Sweeney III of Pineville.

Both were members of the 256th Infantry Brigade of the Louisiana National Guard.

American officials said that in addition to the two soldiers who were killed, four were wounded in the attack.

“I extend my deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of our fallen heroes and to the entire 256th family,” Gov. Kathleen Blanco said in a news release.

“To those soldiers who are wounded, I pray that God will restore your health and give you great comfort.”

A spokesman for the National Guard said official release of the names of the victims would come after all families were notified.

Family members said Manuel, 34, had been in the National Guard for about 17 years and worked as a supervisor at the casino in Kinder. He was married, but the couple had no children.

Manuel’s brother, Anthony, served alongside his brother in the National Guard during the Gulf War but was not deployed to Iraq.

“About the only thing I could say is, I wish I could be there with him, and I know my other brother feels the same way, but we both have families, and it’s hard to make that choice,” he said.

Manuel said the family communicated with Bill over the Internet, using Web cams to see one another daily.

“He got on last night and talked with my dad,” Manuel said. “Dad said he looked tired just before they went out on the mission.”

The attack this week was similar to the one last Thursday that killed the six soldiers from Louisiana and one from New York — a powerful roadside bomb, probably set off by insurgents using a remote electronic detonator.

American officials have cautioned that insurgents will escalate attacks in a bid to scuttle Jan. 30 elections, increasing the size and power of their bombs.

The explosives in Thursday’s explosion were likely several artillery shells used simultaneously, “strung together to increase their lethality,” said Brig. Gen. John Basilica, commander of the 256th Brigade of the Louisiana National Guard.

Killed in the blast last week were Spc. Bradley Bergeron, Sgt. Christopher Babin, 27, and Pfc. Armand Frickey, 21, all of Houma; and Spc. Warren Murphy of Marrero, Spc. Huey Fassbender III of LaPlace and Sgt. 1st Class Kurt Comeaux of Raceland.

---

Manuel last of fallen La. soldiers to be buried

OBERLIN, La. — The last of eight Louisiana National Guardsmen killed last week by roadside bombs in Iraq was laid to rest Tuesday.

Staff Sgt. Bill Manuel died Jan. 10 when his Bradley fighting vehicle was hit with an improvised explosive device. Staff Sgt. Robert Sweeney III, 22, of Pineville, was also killed in the blast. Sweeney was buried Monday and his father, Robert II, and other family members attended Manuel’s funeral.

Retired Sgt. Nora “Pop” Popillion, a friend and fellow National Guardsman of the fallen soldier, said Tuesday that Manuel would tell those sitting in the pews during his funeral service, “Bury me. Honor me, but live ... I lived a good life.”

More than 500 people crowded into St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, where Manuel was an altar boy in his youth. The crowd overflowed into the church hall next door where the family had arranged for a TV station to video the funeral and telecast it on monitors inside.

As he gave the eulogy for his friend, Popillion recalled how the two of them would sit on the second story of Fort Polk’s tower after a day of training. Manuel called it the back porch. They would listen to zydeco music and smoke cigars.

“We’d look out at the horizon,” Popillion said. “I’d say, ’I’ll be glad when this is over,’ and Bill would say, ‘Isn’t this great?’ I’d say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.”’

The Rev. Michael Barras, pastor of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, told mourners at the funeral Mass that he was struck by a collage of snapshots of Manuel’s life and family displayed at the funeral home.

“(This is) a person whose life was well-lived, well-loved and well-cared for,” Barras said.

Manuel, 34, had been in the National Guard for 18 years and worked as a supervisor as a casino in Kinder. He was married, but the couple had no children.

At the cemetery where Manuel was buried, Louisiana National Guard honor guard soldiers folded three flags, one at a time, over his coffin. Each time, the flag was passed to Maj. Gen. Bennett Landreneau, who made the solemn walk first to Manuel’s wife, Nicole, then to his mother, Shirley Manuel and finally to his father, Kermit Manuel.

Manuel’s funeral was the eighth in the past five days for Louisiana Guardsmen killed in Iraq. On Jan. 6, six guardsmen from southeastern Louisiana and the same company based out of Houma were killed in a similar attack.

— Associated Press