A July 13 burial at Erie’s Laurel Hill Cemetery has been scheduled for Army Sgt. 1st Class Raymond R. Buchan, 33, a Southmont native who died Sunday in Iraq.
Buchan’s wife is from Erie. Arrangements in Johnstown – by Picking-Treece-Bennett Mortuary, West Hills Chapel – are incomplete.
U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, issued condolences Thursday.
“Joyce and I send our sympathy to the Buchan family,” he said.
“Even though I personally disagree with the president’s policy, I do everything I can to make sure our troops have everything they need, and I’m inspired by their service to this great country,” Murtha said.
Buchan died of wounds sustained from small-arms fire in Ta’meem, according to the Department of Defense.
Another soldier – Staff Sgt. Michael L. Ruoff Jr., 31, of Yosemite, Calif. – also died in the fighting.
The sergeants were killed when their unit came under fire by insurgents. Ta’meem, near Ramadi, is an area where American forces have been struggling with insurgents since 2003, officials said.
The region has been lethal to U.S. forces: The 2nd Brigade has lost 27 soldiers this year, many of them in insurgent areas in and near Ramadi.
Both soldiers killed Sunday were members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division.
Buchan’s parents, Richard and Carol Jean Buchan of Southmont, declined to comment Thursday, saying they will wait for Buchan’s wife, Laura, to arrive today from the couple’s home in Germany before speaking publicly about their son.
Buchan was deployed to Iraq in 2006. Survivors include two young sons.
Staff writer Frank Sojak and The Erie Times-News contributed to this story.
