
MASHPEE, Mass. — An Army sergeant and mother of three died in Iraq after being injured when the brakes of a truck failed while she changed a tire, her family said.
Staff Sgt. Alicia Birchett, 29, died Aug. 9 in Baghdad, the Department of Defense said Wednesday. Birchett, a member of the Wampanoag tribe, is the second woman from Massachusetts to die in Iraq.
She was an engineer mechanic assigned to the 887th Engineer Company, 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Ky.
Family members said Birchett was an adventurous, practical and dedicated woman who joined the military immediately...