BAGHDAD, Aug. 23, 2007
Family Loses Second Son In Iraq
Third Son In Iraq Will Return To California For The Funeral
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Play CBS Video Video Family's Second Loss In Iraq A California family has lost a second son to the Iraq war in the helicopter crash that killed 14 soldiers. Their third son must decide whether to stay in Iraq or come home. Kimberly Dozier reports.
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Spc. Nathan Hubbard, 21, was among 14 killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northern Iraq. (CBS)
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Spc. Nathan Hubbard, 21, right, was among 14 killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northern Iraq in August of 2007. He is pictured here with his brother Jason Hubbard. (CBS)
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Timeline Iraq Copter Crashes Some of the deadliest helicopter crashes in Iraq and Kuwait since the start of the war.
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
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Interactive American Heroes Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.
The family of Spc. Nathan Hubbard, 21, was taking his death on Wednesday "very, very hard," said Clovis police spokeswoman Janet Stoll-Lee, who spoke on behalf of the Hubbards. The soldier's father, Jeff Hubbard, is a retired 30-year veteran of the police department.
Hubbard’s UH-60 helicopter went down during a nighttime mission in the Tamim province that surrounds Kirkuk, an oil-rich city 180 miles north of Baghdad, said Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, a military spokesman in northern Iraq.
He said facts gathered indicated it was almost certainly due to a mechanical problem and not hostile fire, although the final cause remained under investigation. The military did not immediately release the soldiers' identities pending notification of relatives.
Nathan Hubbard was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, where officials said 10 of the soldiers killed in the crash were based.
The Hubbards lost Nathan's older brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Hubbard, to a roadside bomb in downtown Ramadi in 2004.
CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier reports that after Jared died, Nathan, along with his younger brother Jason, decided to fight back. They joined the Army, completing basic training at Fort Benning, and together, deployed to Iraq.
"These were aggressively committed young men, to their friends, their family, whatever sports activity or event that they were participating in," says local clergy member Rev. Tim Rolen of New Hope Community Church.
Their mother, Peggy, told the Fresno Bee in a 2005 interview that she believed Jason joined in part to protect Nathan after not being there to help Jared.
The brothers said at the time that they didn't worry about dying in the war.
"People are going to be hurt, and people are going to be killed," Nathan Hubbard told the Bee. "That is a reality you have to accept, but not dwell on."
Jason has left his unit in Iraq, to join his family in California at this difficult time, reports Dozier.
Army officials tell CBS News that in a case like this, no branch of the U.S. military will force family members to fight on.
So now, when the funeral is over, Jason will have to face the choice of how to best honor his brothers' sacrifice and his family's loss: go back to Iraq or stay home.
Keith Butterfield, a family friend, said the Hubbards were worried for their sons but proud because they knew they were committed to going on behalf of their fallen brother.
"There is nothing anyone can say to make it better, but it's good to know that there are other families that can help you cope," said Butterfield, who became close to the Hubbards after his own son died in Iraq last year. "It's bringing up the feelings of everyone else's loss, but we will be there for them."
The tragedy has echoes of another sorrow, from World War II - the combat deaths of the five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa, killed when the Navy ship on which they served was sunk in November 1942.
Their story was told in the 1944 movie "The Sullivans" and was an inspiration for the fictional tale that unfolds in the 1998 film "Saving Private Ryan."
Two destroyers were named The Sullivans in memory of the five brothers. The most recent ship, commissioned in 1997 as part of the Atlantic fleet, has the motto: "We stick together."
In other developments:
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- The Real Reason We''re In Iraq: An influential group of conservatives convinced President George W. Bush that it was in America''s best interests to conquer Iraq as a first step toward dominating the oil-producing nations in the Middle East. There was no "exit plan" because we never intended to exit. The plan was, and is, to build military bases in Iraq and stay there forever. Our leaders see Iraq as a place to make money. So Bush & Co. have set up their friends to cash in on the rebuilding of Iraq.
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- "But if we pull the troops from Iraq too early, won''''t we be making the same mistake twice?
Posted by themurph2000 at 08:53 AM : Aug 24, 2007"
If a criminal confronts a police with a weapon and the police, with his own gun, bested the criminal, would that be two mistakes?
Withdrawing from Iraq may well be a bit nasty AT FIRST; but to enter and remain is EVEN NASTIER!
The same childish doubt surfaced with Vietnam; and look what happen: Reality was that the VIOLENCE WAS BEING FUELED BY THE HATED US PRESENCE! - Reply to this comment
- I knew Nathan Hubbard. We went to school together from 5th grade - highschool. Though we were never close friends; just hung out on a few occasions, talked in class, ect... I felt the need to say something. First that he was someone who was always smiling and happy to see you. He could brighten just about anyones day. He never cared if someone was popular or not, never cared what background you came from. He was just an all around good guy who was loved by many. This is a terrible thing to happen to a truely kind and good hearted family. I hope history proves those of us with doubts wrong, and that in the end we can make some sense out of this war. RIP Nate...it was far too soon.
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- Soldier deaths in Iraq bothering you? Just remember that Clinton got a blojob. That makes everything ok. That dang Clinton. His wet member is such a bigger deal than anything going on today. Ignore anything Bush has done and think about Clinton''''s Johnson in a Jewish girl''''s mouth.
Posted by downtowner97 at 03:25 AM : Aug 24, 2007
Enough with the prejudiced cr/ap and get back on topic.
Here''s the one thing I haven''t seen anyone address yet. If we withdraw our troops from Iraq, what happens next? I''d like to see the troops get home fast like everyone else, but what kind of Iraq will be left behind when we leave? If it remains in the middle of civil war (which is part of the problem right now), will other countries or Al-Qaeda take advantage of it? If that happens, we''ll have left ourselves in a situation far worse than if Hussein was still in power. Nobody questions us going into Afghanistan to take out the Taliban after 9/11 (nor should we question that), but was that 100% successful? Last I checked, both the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan were still there and gaining in strength.
Whether you support the war or not, you can easily accuse the Bush admin of not thinking ahead far enough to have a viable plan in post-Hussein Iraq. But if we pull the troops from Iraq too early, won''t we be making the same mistake twice? - Reply to this comment
- Sen. Warner, back from Iraq, to shrub: Start bringing the troops home by Christmas THIS YEAR. I would bet the third brother after he buries his sibling, will be looking for some payback. To the Hubbard''s: Don''t let him go. Your family has contributed far too much already. America sends it''s condolences.
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- Soldier deaths in Iraq bothering you? Just remember that Clinton got a blojob. That makes everything ok. That dang Clinton. His wet member is such a bigger deal than anything going on today. Ignore anything Bush has done and think about Clinton''s Johnson in a Jewish girl''s mouth.
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- This is another sad day for our Republican Democracy and I''ll never vote Republican again. It''s about what is good for the few. My sad and tearful condolences go out to the Hubbard Family. I am embarrassed to be a Republican right now so forgive me for not trying to find some good in all this loss.
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- Or if we applied the same rule to those sick ba$tards who were involved in 9/11?
Posted by mcdazz at 02:37 AM : Aug 24, 2007,,,
9/11 was an embarrassing lapse in U.S. Airport Security and technically should never have been successful. Airports should learn security from U.S. Casinos! Think about it, no U.S. Casino has ever been successfully robbed, ever! It''s amazing actually, there is money everywhere, all in your face, you can reach out and touch it it''s so close! Yet you see no security anywhere, it looks like easy pickings, but you know and they know you better not even think about it! Airports need security like that! LOL - Reply to this comment
- CBS Wrote:
"An investigating officer recommended Thursday dismissing all charges against a Marine accused of murdering two girls in an assault that killed 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha. Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, 26, is charged with unpremeditated murder of two girls and negligent homicide on suspicion that he unlawfully killed two men, a woman and a boy. He is also accused of assaulting another boy and a girl. Investigating officer Lt. Col. Paul Ware said the evidence was too weak for a court-martial. Tatum shot and killed civilians, but "he did so because of his training and the circumstances he was placed in, not to exact revenge and commit murder," Ware wrote."
Imagine if the same rule applied to an army that had killed American civilians.
Or if we applied the same rule to those sick ba$tards who were involved in 9/11? - Reply to this comment
- This family''s 3''rd son is already on the way home from Iraq and will not be returning. This 3''rd son watched his brothers helicopter go down, he was in the other helicopter, that must have been brutal. What a heart breaking story. Saving Private Ryan jumps into real life again! God bless this family for their sacrifices. Ouch!
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- Sons and fathers should not be lost in idiological wars. This mother''s broken heart is not worth even success in Iraq let alone a fantastic failure. Then again we are being lead by a president who believes that these dead soldiers will be judged by God and rewarded for their bravery......sounds familiar to our enemies beliefs.
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- Sympathy and thanks from a grateful nation and history will observe these fine, young men sacrificed for freedom and the generations to follow will know that brave, committed people -- like these young men -- wanted something better for the world.
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- Bush''s war of choice has brought nothing but misery, death and destruction. It''s hard to understand why anyone signs up for the US military, knowing what they are facing. And it''s all for nothing. An American withdrawal from Iraq, without any of the goals achieved, is inevitable. Just a matter of when.
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- This war is not worth losing anymore Americans.
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- While we mourn the loss of lives, we must remember that this is a war of choice concocted up by that abomination in the WH. Why he and his gang of rogues and rascals are still in the WH without accountability shows the world how corrupt the American political and justice system has become.
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- Bring our boys home already.
My condolences to the family as well.
Posted by jh6379 at 09:37 AM : Aug 23, 2007
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Not every soldier getting killed in this war is male. - Reply to this comment
- "My heart aches for the Hubbard Family, I just cannot imagine....
Posted by JDUBS63
Yes, and for the 50,000 other families whose sons didn''t come home from Vietnam, not to mention the 3K+ whose sons and daughters haven''t come home from Iraq, not to mention the 50K whose sons and daughters have come home maimed and damaged from Iraq, and for the 2 million Vietnamese who didn''t live to enjoy their old age, and the 250,000 Iraqis whose guts were sprayed all over the street. - Reply to this comment
- Your history lesson is very commendable lars but we were not threatened by Iraq and it was a trumped up war.
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- to drummer 94: Thank you for your kind words. My son (10 yrs in the Army) til this day has thought of reenlisting in the future , after all this propaganda is over. I know of many young service people who have not made it home and it sickens me to see families receiving the ultimate hurt from losing their child or in this case children. I was in my living room when a good friend receive the phone call from Hawaii that his son died in a helcopter crash in 2004. It was devastating. Our flag and our love for our country still reigns. Thank you for all your support. 10th Mountain Division, FT Drum, New York
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- I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government: ''I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.'' We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Winston Churchill Speech in the House of Commons, after taking office as Prime Minister (13 May 1940)
Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realise that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. Winston Churchill
One ought never to turn one''s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Winston Churchill - Reply to this comment
