JACKSONVILLE - Seven sailors assigned to a construction battalion based at Jacksonville Naval Air Station have been killed in two separate attacks in Iraq, the Navy confirmed Tuesday.
Five of the Seabees were killed Sunday in a mortar attack and two died Friday when their military vehicle hit a bomb. All were members of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 14.
The reserve unit, which arrived in Iraq in early April, had been doing humanitarian work, fixing sewage problems and electrical and water systems. About 400 sailors in the 730-person unit were sent to Iraq, said Miriam Lareau, a Navy spokeswoman.
Jacksonville is a Navy and Marine town: The services employ 51,000 service members and civilians in the area. The Seabee unit that was attacked draws from Florida and the Southeast.
Sunday's attack came as dozens of Seabees were being gathered in the yard of a Marine base for a visit from Rear Adm. Charles Kubic, according to the Miami Herald. One mortar shell struck about 300 yards away but the second killed some sailors on the spot and spewed shrapnel around the yard.
The victims were identified by the Navy as Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael C. Anderson, 36, of Daytona Beach; Petty Officer 2nd Class Trace W. Dossett, 37, of Orlando; Petty Officer 2nd Class Scott R. Mchugh, 33, of Boca Raton; Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert B. Jenkins, 35, of Stuart; and Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronald A. Ginther, 37, of Auburndale.
Mchugh, who was single, grew up in Boca Raton and graduated from Spanish River High in 1989, said his mother, Joyce Mchugh. He attended Palm Beach Community College for a year before joining the Navy. He got out a few years later and joined the reserves.
Sylvia Anderson of Oshkosh, Wis., said her son Michael lived in Daytona Beach with his wife and 7-year-old daughter.
Dossett was originally from Wapello, Iowa. He had a wife and two daughters. Larry Dossett said his son was "very patriotic-minded."
Jenkins had received Navy commendations for his reserve work on a hospital in Orlando and building schools in Haiti.
Attempts by the Associated Press to reach family members of Ginther were not successful.
Their deaths came two days after two other sailors from the same unit, one from Apopka and the other from Georgia, were killed when their military vehicle hit an explosive device while traveling in a convoy.
Also, the Army on Tuesday announced Capt. John E. Tipton, 32, of Fort Walton Beach was killed in an explosion while conducting combat operations.
