FORT LEWIS – Grieving families, comforted on Christmas Eve by friends and relatives, mourned six soldiers from Fort Lewis’ Stryker Brigade who were among 14 U.S. troops killed in an apparent suicide bomber attack at a base near Mosul earlier in the week.
In a statement released by Fort Lewis on Friday, the family of Staff Sgt. Julian Melo called him “a great father, loving brother, outstanding friend to many and a devoted husband.”
“He was born to be a soldier, but never took anything too seriously,” the family said. “His love for his family, his country and his fellow soldiers was evident in everything he did.”
The Defense Department on Friday released the names of soldiers killed in Tuesday’s attack.
Melo, 47, was a supply specialist from Brooklyn, N.Y., but his family lives in the Fort Lewis area.
Relatives of two other Fort Lewis soldiers – Capt. William Jacobsen, 31, and Sgt. Darren VanKomen, 33 – said they were grateful for the support they’ve gotten from the community since Tuesday’s blast.
The Mosul blast – claimed by the radical Ansar al-Sunnah Army – killed 22 people, including 14 American military members and some civilians. It was the deadliest attack yet at a U.S. base in Iraq.
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