James D. Riekena
Profile
Age: 22
From: Redmond, Wash.
Assigned to the 145th Brigade Support Battalion, Idaho National Guard, Post Falls, Idaho
Incident: Army Spc. James D. Riekena died Jan. 14 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
Died: January 14, 2007
Funeral to be held Jan. 14 in Missoula for soldier killed in Iraq
The Associated Press
MISSOULA, Mont. — The funeral for fallen Idaho National Guard soldier James D. Riekena will be held Tuesday in Missoula.
Riekena, 22, died Jan. 14 in Baghdad when a bomb exploded near his Humvee.
Riekena grew up in Missoula and moved to Redmond, Wash., with his family in 1993. He recently lived in Post Falls, Idaho, where he enlisted in the National Guard.
He still has relatives in Missoula.
Riekena’s funeral is set for noon Tuesday at the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Cemetery, with a reception afterward at the church.
His relatives describe Riekena as a young man who had reservations about the war but thought helping Iraqis overcome their hardships was a noble cause.
They said he was a lover of literature and had plans to go to college to become an English...