3 Fort Lewis soldiers killed

FORT LEWIS, Wash. – The Defense Department said Friday that three more Fort Lewis soldiers have been killed in Iraq.

The Pentagon said Spc. Zachariah J. Gonzalez, 23; Pfc. Charles T. Heinlein Jr., 23, and Pfc. Alfred H. Jairala, 29, died Tuesday in Baghdad of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle.

They were assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) at this Army base near Tacoma.

The brigade went to Iraq in June 2006.

Gonzalez enlisted in the Army on April 20, 2004, at Indianapolis.

Heinlein enlisted on Sept. 28, 2005, at Lansing, Mich., and Jairala enlisted on Sept. 9, 2004, at Miami, Fla.

All three got their initial training at Fort Benning, Ga.