Bob Von Sternberg and Chuck Haga, Star Tribune
February 23, 2005
One was a freshly minted suburban police officer. Another was a beloved math teacher. And one was advancing through the sergeant ranks of the Minnesota National Guard. All three were newly married; two of them wed just days before they headed for Iraq last fall.
All three died Monday, killed when a roadside bomb was detonated where their military convoy had been brought to a stop in Baghdad. Eight others were injured.
It was Minnesota's costliest day in Iraq and apparently the deadliest day of combat for the state since May 5, 1968, when nine died in Vietnam. Nineteen Minnesotans have died in Iraq since mid-2003; 18 were military members.
Staff Sgt. David Day, 25, of St. Louis Park, First Lt. Jason Timmerman, 24, of Tracy and Sgt. Jesse Lhotka, 24, of Alexandria were killed in southwest Baghdad. All were members of the 151st Field Artillery based in Montevideo, a unit that had retrained for urban street patrol.
Timmerman, Day and Lhotka -- all of whom grew up in western Minnesota -- were among about 330 members of the 151st mobilized in the fall for a deployment that was to last a year to 18 months. The 151st includes units based in Montevideo, Marshall, Olivia, Morris, Ortonville, Appleton and Madison.
They are among about 1,000 state National Guard troops now in Iraq, with more than 800 other troops now serving in Afghanistan or supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom in Kuwait and other countries.
Stacey Lhotka, who talked to people who were with her husband when he died, said he was in a convoy of four Humvees on their way to practice shooting their weapons. His Humvee hit gravel and rolled over, she was told. He was OK, but he helped the gunner out of the vehicle and administered first aid to the driver, who was badly injured.
As Lhotka helped carry the driver to a waiting helicopter on the other side of a bridge, an "improvised explosive device" exploded, killing Lhotka and the other two men. Stacey Lhotka said the driver her husband was assisting apparently survived the blast.
Her husband "really was a hero," she said. "He truly honest-to-God did the right thing. We begged him not to be a hero before he left, but he did what he had to do."
Day's grandmother, LaVonne Day, provided a similar account, saying that family members were told that Day was checking on an overturned Humvee when a roadside bomb went off, killing him.
"This Humvee was on its side, tipped over, and he went over to see if anybody was hurt when it blew up," she said. "He was going to help. That would be David."
A spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq confirmed that three soldiers were killed and eight others wounded when the bomb exploded as they were evacuating an injured soldier, but the military had not released their identities as of Tuesday night.
The Defense Department gave a slightly different version of how the convoy was halted. It said the convoy stopped when a Humvee was hit by a civilian vehicle. The Defense Department did not say whether it believed the accident had been staged as an ambush.
The incident happened about 8 a.m. Monday (11 p.m. Sunday in the Twin Cities).
A new career
Day had just started as a police officer in St. Louis Park before he was deployed to Iraq, said Chief John Luse, and he had married his high school sweetheart less than a week before he left for Iraq.
"He bought her a brand-new car and the diamonds, and he said, 'Now I want you to be taken care of,' " LaVonne Day said. "They were together for about four or five days."
Day became a St. Louis Park police officer in February 2004 after more than a year as a community service officer, during which time his responsibilities were more mundane -- issuing parking tickets and chasing stray animals. Luse recalled Day as someone who "never whined, and you never had to ask him twice to do something."
Said Paul Barnes, a St. Louis Park police officer who served in Iraq and had shared some of his experiences with Day: "A lot of things happen you can't share and don't want people to know because you don't want your family to worry."
The Police Department is setting up a memorial fund at Citizens Bank to allow Day's wife, Amy, to memorialize him in the manner of her choosing.
Luse said department members had stayed in touch with Day, who e-mailed pictures of Iraq and his barracks.
Effective teacher
Timmerman had graduated from high school in Cottonwood and was married last year.
"He was a wonderful guy -- very caring," said Aaron Hess, who grew up with Timmerman. "He was so good-natured, I never saw him angry at anyone."
Timmerman said little over the years about his decision to join the Guard. "He could never give a clear answer to why he joined, but if he's like a lot of guys, it was to help pay for his education," Hess said.
Family and friends threw a barbecue send-off for him last fall. "I was able to give him a hug, wish him luck," Hess said. "He was extremely worried about going, especially because he had a new family -- not even married for a year yet."
Timmerman received a bachelor's degree in math education and a master's in educational technology from Dakota State University.
In his online college profile, Timmerman wrote: "In order for a teacher to be effective in the classroom, he must make a personal connection with the students so they understand the teacher's genuine desire to help students learn and grow."
"He really got along well with the kids and always wanted to spend time with them," said Dr. Diana Messick, principal at Whittier Middle School in Sioux Falls, S.D., where Timmerman student-taught with a seventh-grade math teacher two years ago.
He taught math and computers for a year at the K-12 Lake Benton Public School in Lake Benton in 2003-2004. He left teaching for a job in the private sector last fall, said Superintendent Bill Delaney.
"He demonstrated traits that were uncommon for a first-year teacher," Delaney said. "The staff and students looked up to him as mature before his time."
Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes said word of Timmerman's death had been slowly spreading. "It'll be felt by the entire community," he said.
Timmerman's younger brother, Travis, is also serving in the Guard in Iraq, state Rep. Marty Seifert of Marshall said.
Dose of reality
Lhotka, 24, graduated from Lac qui Parle Valley High School in Madison, Minn., in 1999. He was class president in his sophomore and senior years.
"He was a very respectful and good-natured young man," said Robert Munsterman, the school district superintendent, who has a son in Iraq, too. "Obviously, it's a dose of reality," he said.
In Appleton, Lhotka's hometown, about 25 people gathered in the basement of the Appleton Armory to make yellow ribbons to tie on trees and fences.
"It's terrible, tragic news," said Becky Wulf of Renville, whose son, Matt, who turned 22 on Tuesday, is serving with the 151st. "It's going to be hard. I understand one of those killed was in the same company as Matt, so I'm waiting to hear from him."
"There's a lot of telephone-calling going on" all over southwest Minnesota, she said.
Multiple casualties in a single Guard unit have become a more common occurrence in Iraq as the military has increased its reliance on National Guard troops who serve as units.
"My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of these three brave soldiers who lost their lives," said Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who represents their hometowns. "All of us in Minnesota's Seventh District are saddened by the loss of these men."
Gov. Tim Pawlenty said, "We are grateful to them. ... We mourn their loss."
At the Minnesota Legislature, the House acknowledged the deaths with a moment of silence before the session.
"It's events like this that we remember that all have given some but some have given all," said Rep. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake.
Original story including pictures...