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Iraq war

Josh Hansen, 41, sits at his kitchen table in Woods Cross on Monday. The retired Army sergeant was deployed twice to Iraq and suffered traumatic brain injury from multiple IED blasts. (REYNALDO LEAL/Standard-Examiner)

10 years after Iraq invasion, retired Woods Cross sergeant helping veterans

Last updated Thursday, March 21, 2013 - 12:01pm

Josh Hansen sat across the kitchen table from his 6-year-old son. His blue eyes shifted from his wife preparing dinner to the boy coloring a page with a red marker. He smiled and then chuckled.

Hansen doesn’t have to worry about improvised explosive devices, suicide bombers or small-arms ambushes anymore. He’s as far away from the dangers of war as he could possibly be inside his home in Woods Cross.

The 41-year-old is happy with his current, peaceful life. With the exception of a memorial tattoo of a helmet, rifle and boots on his left arm, there is little to indicate a soldiering past.

Afghanistan, Brain injury, Disabilities, Iraq war, Veterans, Featured Read more Comments

Anna McFadden walks with family and friends at the Utah State University Botanical Center in Kaysville on Thursday. Youth of Promise has been raising funds to build a memorial, seen here, that will honor those killed on 9/11, as well as the Utah soldiers killed in the “war on terror.” (NICK SHORT/Standard-Examiner)

Names of 9/11 victims, soldiers getting second look before bronze casting

Bryon Saxton Standard-Examiner

Last updated Thursday, March 14, 2013 - 11:50pm

LAYTON — The names of Utah soldiers who have died in the “war on terror” need to be checked one last time for accuracy, and to ensure no honoree is overlooked, before the Sept. 11 memorial’s bronze markers are cast.

“I have been keeping a list and have been in contact with the National Guard. The list is extensive,” said project coordinator Karlene Kidman, a Davis County Youth of Promise adviser.

For a decade now, Youth of Promise, a service group consisting of area teens, has been hosting fundraisers and lobbying the Utah Legislature and area businesses for money to build a 9/11 memorial monument within the Utah State University Botanical Center in Kaysville.

9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq war, September 11, Deaths, Featured, Memorial Read more Comments

An Iraqi wounded man sits on a stretcher after being injured in a coordinated strike on a gold market in eastern Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 12, 2012. Attacks against al-Qaida's favorite targets in Iraq killed several people Monday as insurgents struck security forces, a government office and jewelry stores, demonstrating a continued threat from armed groups as the country prepares to host a meeting of the Arab world's top leaders. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

14 killed in Iraq robbery, attacks

Sinan Salaheddin The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 12, 2012 - 10:11am

BAGHDAD -- Attacks against al-Qaida's favorite targets in Iraq killed 14 people Monday as insurgents struck security forces, a government office and jewelry stores, demonstrating a continued threat from armed groups as the country prepares to host a meeting of the Arab world's top leaders.

Robbery, al-Quaida, Iraq, Iraq war, Terrorism, Violence, International Read more Comments

Staff Sgt. Aaron Heliker gives Fred a quick kiss. The program takes 75 service members each year, both active-duty and vets. (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Steve Ringman)

War veterans find peace on horseback

Nancy Bartley The Seattle Times

Last updated Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - 11:11am

YELM, Wash. -- After six tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Aaron Heliker's luck ran out.

Afghanistan, Horses, Iraq war, Veterans, Military, National Read more Comments

Purple Heart recipient from Hill to be honored at White House

Jasen Asay Standard-Examiner

Last updated Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 7:33am

HILL AIR FORCE BASE -- Staff Sgt. Andy Piirainen does not know what he will be eating Wednesday night at the White House.

Nor does he really care.

Award, Hill Air Force Base, Iraq war, President Barack Obama, Purple Heart, Utah, White House Read more Comments

(From left) Audrey Arruda, Ctercia Possche and Raphael Arruda. Raphael was killed in Afghanistan on July 16. The Utah Legislature honored his family and the families of other soldiers from Utah who were killed in combat last year. (Contributed photo)

Utah lawmakers honor soldiers who fell in 2011

Loretta Park Standard-Examiner

Last updated Thursday, February 23, 2012 - 10:46pm

SALT LAKE CITY — Tears still flow from the parents of Army Cpl. Raphael R. Arruda, who was killed in Afghanistan on July 16, 2011.

“Every time, it is emotional,” Sergio Arruda De Souza, of South Ogden, said of the times he has gone to special events honoring his son, who died just a few days before his 22nd birthday in Kunar District, Afghanistan.

Afghanistan, Event, Fallen soldier, HAFB, Hill Air Force Base, Honor, Injuries, Iraq war, PTSD, Utah, Utah House of Representatives, Utah Legislature, Utah Senate, Featured, Military Read more Comments

(NICHOLAS DRANEY/Standard-Examiner)
Jase Brostrom reacts to hearing he will receive a portrait of his father, Jonathan Brostrom, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2008, during his third grade class at Plain City Elementary School on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012.

'Perfect' portrait helps son remember soldier dad

Mitch Shaw Standard-Examiner

Last updated Thursday, February 23, 2012 - 8:51pm

PLAIN CITY — Jase Brostrom lost his father nearly four years ago, but thanks to a larger-than-life painting, he’ll always be able to see his dad.

Jase, a student in Steve Gertsch’s third-grade class at Plain City Elementary School, was surprised Thursday afternoon with a 22-by-28-inch portrait of his father, Army 1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, who was killed during a battle with insurgents in a tiny Afghan village in July 2008.

Afghanistan, Army, Fallen soldier, HAFB, Hill Air Force Base, Iraq war, Plain City Elementary School, U.S. Army, Utah, Featured, Military Read more Comments

Texas rice farmer Ray Stoesser stands outside his rice elevator Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, in Dayton, Texas. In the past month Iraq decided to no longer buy rice from U.S. farmers, dumping yet another problem on farmers already struggling with drought, excessive heat, rising production costs and dropping global prices. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

Farmers furious after Iraq stops buying U.S. rice

Ramit Plushnick-Masti The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, February 23, 2012 - 10:56am

DAYTON, Texas -- U.S. rice farmers are fuming over a decision by Iraq to stop buying American rice. Instead it is buying cheaper grains from elsewhere.

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Basketball players ready to break record, raise scholarship funds

Jasen Asay Standard-Examiner

Last updated Friday, December 23, 2011 - 7:27am

CLEARFIELD -- They'll need a special scoreboard for this basketball game, one that will count points into the thousands.

To raise money for the Fallen Heroes Scholarship Foundation while also breaking a world record, two teams will tip off Monday morning in the gym of the Clearfield Aquatic Center and play until Friday night.

Event, Firefighters, Fundraiser, Fundraising, Higher Education, Iraq war, National Guard, Scholarships, Utah, Basketball, Law Enforcement, Military Read more Comments

Iraqi security forces and people gather the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. A wave of bombings ripped across Baghdad on Thursday morning killing and wounding hundreds of people, Iraqi officials said, in the worst violence Iraq has seen for months. The bloodbath comes just days after American forces left the country. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Wave of bombings across Iraqi capital kills 60

Qassim Abdul-Zahra The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, December 22, 2011 - 10:53am

BAGHDAD -- A wave of at least 14 bombings ripped across Baghdad Thursday morning, killing at least 60 people in the worst violence in Iraq for months. The apparently coordinated attacks struck days after the last American forces left the country and in the midst of a major government crisis between Shiite and Sunni politicians that has sent sectarian tensions soaring.

Bombings, Iraq war, Sectarian violence, Shiites, Sunnis, Terrorism, International Read more Comments

7 Hill AFB airmen, among last to leave Iraq, come home

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - 12:17pm

SALT LAKE CITY -- Several Utah airmen who are among the last U.S. military members to leave Iraq are coming back home.

Airmen, Hill Air Force Base, Iraq war, Utah Read more Comments

(LUCAS JACKSON/The Associated Press) A border guard stands on the border of Kuwait as a U.S. flag flies on the dashboard of a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, that is part of the last U.S. military convoy to leave Iraq, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. The last U.S. soldiers rolled out of Iraq across the border to neighboring Kuwait at daybreak Sunday, whooping, fist bumping and hugging each other in a burst of joy and relief.

Soldier in last convoy leaving Iraq calls wife

Angela K. Brown The Associated Press

Last updated Sunday, December 18, 2011 - 4:50pm

FORT HOOD, Texas — One Texas woman got some good news from her husband during a surprise 3 a.m. phone call.

Homecoming, Iraq, Iraq war, Troops, National Read more Comments

The US flag, Iraq flag, and the US Forces Iraq colors are seen before they are carried in during ceremonies marking the end of US military mission, Thursday, Dec., 15, 2011 in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)

Panetta formally shuts down US war in Iraq

Lolita C. Baldor The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, December 15, 2011 - 11:12am

BAGHDAD -- After nearly nine years, 4,500 American dead, 32,000 wounded and more than $800 billion, U.S. officials formally shut down the war in Iraq -- a conflict that U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was worth the price in blood and money, as it set Iraq on a path to democracy.

Iraq, Iraq war, Leon Panetta, Middle East, International, Military Read more Comments

In this April 26, 2011 photo, U.S. Army soldiers walk through Al Faw palace in Camp Victory Baghdad, Iraq. Victory Base Complex, as it's formally called by the military, started life as a country club for the Baghdad elite under Saddam. Little reminders of the base's former life such as a sign reminding patrons where to park or when the casino would be open are still located on the base. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Icon of US military now in Iraqi hands

Rebecca Santana The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, December 2, 2011 - 10:49am

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq -- Inside palace walls built by Saddam Hussein, U.S. generals plotted the war's course, tracked the mounting death toll and swore in new American citizens under gaudy glass chandeliers.

Just outside the palace, American troops whacked golf balls into man-made lakes or fished for carp while others sat down with a cigar and a can of nonalcoholic beer hoping for a respite from incoming rockets or mortar shells.

Iraq, Iraq war, International, Military Read more Comments

The Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware is the Air Force mortuary that receives America’s war dead and prepares them for burial. Officials said Tuesday that the mortuary lost human remains twice in 2009. (Associated Press file photo)

Air Force hit by pattern of embarrassing errors

The Associated Press The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, November 10, 2011 - 12:22am

WASHINGTON — Revelations about mishandling the nation’s war dead mark the Air Force’s second embarrassing failure in three years, following the time when airmen mistakenly flew a B-52 armed with nuclear weapons across the country.