I built this site because the history of our battalion's service in Iraq has never been compiled in one place. The deployments, the operations, the casualties, the awards — they exist scattered across DoD press releases, memorial databases, unit records, and the memories of the guys who were there. Some of those memories are fading. Some of those guys are gone.
This site is for the soldiers who served with 5/20th Infantry across all three deployments. It's for their families — the wives, husbands, parents, and children who carried the weight of those deployments from the other side. And it's for anyone who wants to understand what this battalion did, what it cost, and why it matters.
I want to be transparent about what this is and what it isn't. This is a best-effort historical record compiled from publicly available sources, unit records, memorial photos at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, DoD casualty announcements, and conversations with veterans who served. It is not an official military document. It contains gaps — particularly in the second deployment's Purple Heart roster and in biographical details for several fallen soldiers. I am actively working to fill those gaps.
If you find errors, if you have information that should be included, if you have photographs, stories, or corrections — please reach out. This record belongs to everyone who served, not just to me.
If you served with 5/20th Infantry during any of the three deployments, or if you're a family member of someone who did, you can help make this record more complete. I'm looking for:
Dates, names, ranks, locations, unit assignments — if something on this site is wrong, I want to fix it.
Particularly from the 2006–07 deployment. If you were wounded or know someone who was, that information helps complete the record.
For fallen soldiers with incomplete entries — hometowns, ages, circumstances, awards, family information.
Unit photos, memorial photos, anything that helps tell the story of what our battalion did.
Email: jakewalsh24@gmail.com
Substack: jakewalsh.substack.com — where I write weekly about service, struggle, and what comes after.
LinkedIn: Jake Walsh
3d Brigade Combat Team memorial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. 20th Infantry Regiment unit history and battle records. Department of Defense casualty announcements. Military Times Honor the Fallen database. Battle of Baqubah after-action documentation. I Corps Battle Command Training Center documentary. Individual veteran accounts and personal correspondence. JBLM memorial panel photographs.