Jessica Dawn Lynch is an American teacher, actress, and former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a private first class.
Lori Ann Piestewa was a United States Army soldier killed during the Iraq War. A member of the Quartermaster Corps, she died in the same Iraqi attack in which fellow soldiers Shoshana Johnson and Piestewa's friend Jessica Lynch were injured. A Hopi, Piestewa was the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military and the first woman in the U.S. military killed in the Iraq War. Arizona's Piestewa Peak is named in her honor.
The 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, also officially known as The Arkansas Brigade, is an infantry brigade combat team of the Army National Guard composed of personnel from the U.S. states of Arkansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. The unit is the largest Army National Guard command in Arkansas and is headquartered at the Camp Robinson Maneuver Training Center. It was ordered into federal service in 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. The 39th was attached to the 1st Cavalry Division and served in and around Baghdad for a year, returning to the United States in March 2005.
Shoshana Nyree Johnson is a Panamanian-born former United States soldier, and the first black female prisoner of war in the military history of the United States. Johnson was a Specialist of the U.S. Army 507th Maintenance Company, 5/52 ADA BN, 11th ADA Brigade.
The 507th Maintenance Company was a United States Army unit which was ambushed during the Battle of Nasiriyah in the rapid advance towards Baghdad during 2003 invasion of Iraq on 23 March 2003. The most well known member of the unit was Private First Class Jessica Lynch whose rescue from an Iraqi hospital received worldwide media coverage. Sergeant Donald Walters and Private First Class Patrick Miller were both awarded the Silver Star for valor. Sergeant Matthew Rose was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device. Many other members of the unit were decorated as well, receiving the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and/or Prisoner of War Medal.
The 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an air defense artillery battalion in the United States Army based at Fort Bliss, Texas. Known as "five-five-deuce", the battalion motto is "Always Prepared" The former motto was "We Build Warriors". The battalion is part of 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and the 32nd Army Air & Missile Defense Command.
A gun truck is an armored vehicle with one or more crew-served weapons, typically based on a commercial vehicle. Gun trucks often have improvised vehicle armor, such as scrap metal, concrete, gravel, or sandbags, which is added to a heavy truck.
Leigh Ann Hester is a United States Army National Guard soldier. While assigned to the 617th Military Police Company, a Kentucky Army National Guard unit out of Richmond, Kentucky, Hester received the Silver Star for her heroic actions on 20 March 2005 during an enemy ambush on a supply convoy near the town of Salman Pak, Iraq.
The 13th Armored Corps Sustainment Command—the "Lucky 13th"—is a U.S. Army modular sustainment command which serves as a forward presence for expeditionary operations for a theater, or in support of a regional combatant commander. Corps Sustainment Commands (CSC), such as the 13th, synchronize distribution of supplies and services within their operational areas and provides distribution oversight. Formed at Fort Cavazos, Texas when the 1st Logistics Command deployed to Vietnam, the organization then known as the 13th Support Brigade was initially responsible for the training of technical services units to assume combat service support missions in Southeast Asia.
The Battle of Nasiriyah was fought between the US 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, aided by the British military, and Iraqi forces from 23 March to 2 April 2003 during the US-led invasion of Iraq. On the night of 24–25 March, the bulk of the Marines of Regimental Combat Team 1 passed through the city over the bridges and attacked north towards Baghdad. However fighting continued in the city until 1 April when Iraqi resistance in the city was defeated.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq, which lasted from March 20 to May 1, 2003, resulted in a small number of U.S. and Coalition Prisoners of war.
The Battle of Wadi al-Batin, also known as the Battle of Ruqi Pocket, took place before the beginning of the Desert Storm operations on 16 February 1991. This is not to be confused with the "Battle of Wadi al-Batin" which was fought later in the four-day ground war between elements of the 1st Cavalry Division and the Iraqi Republican Guard.
William Wayne Seay was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War.
Justin D. LeHew is a United States Marine who served in the War on Terror. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on 23 and 24 March 2003 during the initial 2003 invasion of Iraq. He was hand picked to spearhead the rescue operation and recovery of the U.S. Army's 507th Maintenance Company on 23 March and subsequently was called upon again to take part in the rescue operation of US Army Private Jessica Lynch on 1 April 2003. He is also a recipient of the Bronze Star with Combat Distinguishing Device denoting Valor for his heroic actions from 5 to 28 August 2004 during the Battle of Najaf.
The 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team is a modular heavy brigade of the United States Army National Guard. 30th ABCT relieved 3rd ABCT/4ID in Kuwait, 1 November 2019. They returned to the U.S. in September 2020 and were replaced by the 2nd ABCT/1AD.
Monica Lin Brown is a United States Army sergeant and medic who became the first woman during the War in Afghanistan and only the second woman since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the United States military's third-highest medal for valor in combat.
The 2004 Good Friday ambush was an attack by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004 during the Iraq War on a convoy of U.S. supply trucks during the Battle of Baghdad International Airport. It happened in the midst of the Iraq spring fighting of 2004, which saw intensified clashes throughout the country.
39th Brigade Support Battalion is an element of the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), of the Arkansas Army National Guard. The battalion is headquartered at Hazen, Arkansas. The 39th Support Battalion was constituted on 2 November 1967 from existing units in central Arkansas and assigned to the 39th Infantry Brigade with headquarters in Hazen. Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 206th Field Artillery Regiment, at Hazen was reorganized and re-designated as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 39th Support Battalion.
On Easter Sunday April 11, 2004, a battle was fought at Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) in Iraq primarily between United States Army truck drivers, air defense artillerymen, armor, military policemen, engineers and miscellaneous logistics personnel and militants from Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army, along the Southwest side of the airport wall in an area commonly referred to as Engineer Village. That section of Baghdad International Airport was home to numerous engineering units, in particular the 389th Combat Engineers, a dining hall, and a convoy marshaling area.
142nd Division Sustainment Support Battalion is a multifunctional logistics headquarters. It is task organized as a Division Sustainment Support Battalion with capability required to support specified mission requirements. The CSSB supports echelon above brigade units, multifunctional brigades, functional support brigades, and brigade combat teams. The CSSB may support Army special operations forces as part of their area support task. The 142nd DSSB is currently stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, and is a subordinate unit of the 1st Armored Division Sustainment Brigade.
United States
United States Army 
Sergeant first class 
Combat Action Badge 
Silver Star 
Purple Heart 
Army Commendation Medal 
Army Achievement Medal 
Prisoner of War Medal