Face of Defense: Firefighter Trades New York for Iraq

By Staff Sgt. J.B. Jaso III, USA | Special to American Forces Press Service
CAMP TAJI, Iraq, March 27, 2008 - On Sept. 11, 2001, Nicholas Pata was a volunteer firefighter in Rockland County, N.Y., who assisted rescue efforts after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in Manhattan.

Pata, 25, no longer fights fires; he now is an Army private first class and fights terrorism as a Multinational Division Baghdad radio-telephone operator assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment "Wolfhounds," 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

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