Another Massachusetts Resident Dies in Iraq

Update: Birchett's family has said that she was killed when the truck's brakes failed as she changed the tire.

The Pentagon has announced that Army Staff Sergeant Alicia Birchett, 29, died last Thursday in Iraq. She was from Mashpee.

One of Birchett's cousins said that she was changing a tire by the road in Baghdad and was somehow crushed. The Pentagon said that the incident is "under investigation."

Birchett was with the 887th Engineer Company, 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. She leaves behind a husband and three children. She was also a member of the Wampanoags, and she will be buried in a traditional Wampanoag ceremony.

Only a few days ago, the Pentagon announced the death of Joan Duran, who was from Roxbury.