3 Fort Bliss Soldiers Die In Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) – Three soldiers from Fort Bliss have been killed in a bombing in Iraq. The Defense Department today announced the victims, including one from Texas, died Monday in Qayyarah of wounds suffered when their vehicle was bombed.

The victims were: –23-year-old Private First Class Juan M. Lopez Junior of San Antonio — thirty-nine-year-old Staff Sergeant Eric D. Cottrell of Pittsview, Alabama — and 24-year-old Private First Class Paulomarko U. Pacificador of Shirley, New York.

The men were assigned to the 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Bliss.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) AP-NY-08-16-07 1811EDT