Richland Marine Dies in Iraq

Richland Marine Dies in Iraq

Story Published: Feb 8, 2007 at 6:38 PM PDT

By William Pitts

RICHLAND -- Sergeant Travis Pfister of Richland died yesterday when his helicopter crashed near Baghdad, the fifth helicopter shot down in less than three weeks.

An al Qaida-linked group is claiming responsibility for shooting it down.

Pfister graduated from Hanford High in 1997.

He would have had his 10 year high school reunion this year.

Families of other service members killed in Iraq say it's hard to hear about another fallen serviceman.

Jeremiah Schmunk of Richland died near Baghdad in 2004.

Since then his mom, Shirley, has made it her mission to remember other troops who died.

She says she knows what the Pfister family is going through.

"You don't get a book that tells you what to do," she says. "The only difference is when they're killed over there you don't get a chance to be with them the last few minutes. Sometimes just a hug and a chance to say I understand helps (them) a lot."

Shirley says she and other families plan to call the Pfisters in a few days.

The Tri-Cities and Yakima each lost a number of service members in the Iraq war.

Since Operation Iraqi Freedom began, 11 troops died.

Yakima and Pendleton saw the worst of it.

Both cities lost three people with ties to the area.

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