2 Pa. guardsmen killed in Iraq

Two Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers from the Philadelphia region were killed Saturday in Iraq when their armored humvee was rocked by a road-bomb blast, careened into a ditch, and flipped over, the Guard said yesterday.

They were identified as Sgt. Brahim Jeffcoat, 25, of North Philadelphia, father of a 19-month-old girl, and Spec. Kurt Krout, 43, of Spinnerstown, Bucks County, a Wal-Mart store manager and father of four children.

Three other soldiers were injured - one seriously - in a pair of bomb attacks that sent shudders through a company of ordinarily part-time soldiers based in Northeast Philadelphia who were plucked from civilian life for a year of duty in Iraq. The company previously had suffered 19 combat casualties, none fatal.

Barbara Kissel, 54, a close friend of Krout's, said of him last night: "He kept saying, 'I'm coming home. ' Nobody was supposed to worry. "

All together, the Pennsylvania Guard has about 3,200 troops in Iraq. Six have died in combat.

In what has become a familiar pattern of insurgent attacks, the lead vehicle in a four-vehicle convoy was hit as it rolled through the city of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.

As the second vehicle slowed to offer help, it, too, was struck by a blast apparently detonated from a remote location.

The soldiers of Alpha Company of the First Battalion of the 111th Infantry never saw their attackers and had no one to shoot at, a Guard official said.

Jeffcoat and Krout were in the lead vehicle, officials said. Two other men in the same vehicle were hurt, including Spec. Rudolph Roberson, 27, of Philadelphia, who suffered serious head cuts and a broken leg.

Roberson was flown Sunday from a base at Balad, Iraq, to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. He was to be flown today to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

Capt. Cory Angell, a Guard spokesman, said Roberson was in stable condition.

Sgt. James Newman, 23 of Schwenksville, Montgomery County, riding in the lead humvee, and Spec. James Mcintosh, 38, of Johnstown, Pa., riding in the second vehicle, incurred minor injuries, officials said. Newman returned to duty yesterday.

Capt. Anthony Callum, the company commander, was home in Bucks County on a two-week leave when the attack happened about 5 p.m. Saturday, Iraq time.

Callum, who is headed back to Iraq today, said yesterday that Alpha Company trained for six months in the United States after being called up in June 2004 and has been in Iraq since December.

He said the unit, which is based at an armory on Southampton Road in the Northeast, is in charge of patrolling two small towns - As-Siniyah and As-Siliyah - in the dangerous Sunni Triangle, north of Tikrit, hometown of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

"It's been tough, but we've been successful," Callum said. "We patrol all the time. "

Saturday's mission was to pick up supplies for the company, which is housed at Forward Operating Base Somerall.

The convoy had just left Camp Anaconda for the return trip when it was hit.

Callum said he did not know whether the bombs were planted under the vehicles or off to the side. He said all of the company's vehicles - both its humvees and trucks - are equipped with factory-made armor kits.

"We've had IEDs and car bombs in the past," Callum said. "There's been a few times where we have taken direct fire. "

Guard and Reserve soldiers constitute more than one-third of the 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. These units are community-based, and members typically serve in a war zone with others from their home area. That can mean hardship on a community when there are large numbers of casualties.

Last week, at least two communities were devastated when 20 members of a Marine Reserve company based near Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, were killed in a bombing attack.

The Associated Press reported that 87 members with ties to Pennsylvania are among 1,821 U.S. service personnel who have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom since it began in March 2003.

Jeffcoat, described by the Guard as a youth counselor in civilian life, had been a member of the Guard since 1998. At 25, he had been promoted four times.

"I think he had big plans to come back and go to school and get his degree," Callum said. "He was recently married with a young daughter. Things were going good. He was a good guy. "

A man who answered the door last night at Jeffcoat's home on North 10th Street declined to comment. An Army officer who sat in a red SUV in front of the brick home told reporters that the family was "dealing with the loss. "

Across the street, 76-year-old Annie Thompson stood in a doorway as a light rain began to fall. "He was a nice young man, like his father," said Thompson, who has lived in the stone home for 40 years. "It's a shame. "

Bill Sellers, 59, who lives next door to the Jeffcoat family, said: "The regular guys are the ones going over there; they're the ones dying. "

Krout, 43, a 1981 graduate of Quakertown High, was one rank lower than Jeffcoat.

Callum described him as a Marine veteran who had joined the Army Guard in order to continue serving his country. Krout was the food manager at the Wal-Mart in Richland, said Tim Dombroski, the store comanager.

Callum said Krout was his driver. "He was your typical former Marine: hard-charging and hard-headed. He worked hard and played hard. "

Krout's family also would not comment last night.

At the Spinnerstown home where Krout lived with his mother and sister, Sgt. First Class Robert Williams said Krout was separated from his wife, Karrie. The couple had four children ranging in age from 14 to 21, he said.

Williams said that Krout had not trained with Alpha Company but was a member of Bravo Company, based in West Chester. When Alpha was called up, it did not have enough men at all positions, he said, so Krout volunteered for their mission.

Said Williams: "He served out his full active duty in the Marines and he wanted to further serve the community, the commonwealth and his country. "

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Contact staff writer Tom Infield at 610-313-8205 or tinfield@phillynews.com.