Families of Missing Soldiers Wait for Word

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Associated Press | June 19, 2006

DALLAS - Christina Menchaca met her husband through her brother, who served with him in the Army. She married Kristian Menchaca in September and he deployed to Iraq in October. She was waiting Sunday with the rest of Menchaca's family for any word about the Houston 23-year-old, who was one of two servicemen reported missing in Iraq after an insurgent attack on a military checkpoint Friday. Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., also was missing.

"We're basically just watching the news because no one else knows anything about it, no one has heard anything about it," Christina Menchaca, 18, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "We're just going by what the news has to say."

The Defense Department said Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., was killed in the attack. All three Soldiers were assigned to Fort Campbell, Ky.

Witnesses said the missing Soldiers were led away by masked gunmen, but those reports have not been confirmed by the military, which has undertaken a massive search.

Kay Fristad, an Oregon National Guard spokeswoman, said she had a brief conservation with Tucker's parents and they said he joined the military "to do something positive for the country."

Fristad said Tucker's family had been camping this weekend and only recently learned the news. She said they have asked for privacy and would not comment until Monday.

Menchaca's brother, Julio Cesar Vasquez, of Houston, said Menchaca joined the military last year and deployed to Iraq within months.

Menchaca's mother, Maria Vasquez, of Brownsville, Texas, said she last heard from her son a few weeks ago. "I'm a little bit nervous, and I cannot sleep," she said. "I worry about him."

Former Madras Mayor Rick Allen, whom Tucker worked for at a gas station while he was a student at Madras High School, described Tucker as strong, street smart and mechanically inclined.

"He's a tough kid. Hopefully he's got the inner strength to make it through this ordeal."

Allen said he learned the news on television.

"It's just bizarre; it takes your breath away. Here's this kid who used to come and pump gas at your place and now he is clear across the world - held," Allen said. "And there's nothing anyone can do, except hope these people have compassion and let him go."

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