Spc. Dan Drevnick

Spc. James Wertish

Spc. Carlos Wilcox Related stories:  Minn. Soldier Dies from Afghan Combat Injuries     Vigil Held for Fallen Minn. Soldiers  Three Minn. National Guardsmen Killed, One Injured in Basra  U.S. Military Releases Iraq War Death Toll Numbers  US Military in Iraq says 3 Soldiers Killed  Red Bull Infantry heads to Iraq

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Gov. Tim Pawlenty personally delivered his condolences to a Minnesota National Guard unit that lost three members in an attack in Iraq last week.

Pawlenty spoke to reporters Sunday from Kuwait after making his fourth unannounced trip to Iraq. He said the loss and pain that the families of the slain soldiers are feeling is "unimaginable," but he wanted to share the state's gratitude for the soldiers' "incredible courage."

"Of course no words can describe the sense of loss that their families are experiencing, but we do want to convey to those families that we're thankful for their sons and what they represented, the values that they represented and the service to our country," Pawlenty said.

All three - Spc. Daniel P. Drevnick, 22, of Woodbury; Spc. James D. Wertish, 20, of Olivia; and Spc. Carlos E. Wilcox IV, 27, of Cottage Grove - were assigned to the Stillwater-based 34th Military Police Company, part of the 34th "Red Bull" Infantry Division. They were killed Thursday in a rocket attack in Basra.

More than 1,000 Red Bulls are overseeing coalition efforts in half of Iraq's 18 provinces.

Despite the three deaths - the deadliest day for Minnesota troops since 2005 - Pawlenty said violence in Iraq has decreased since his last visits in 2006 and '07. Pawlenty also visited Iraq in 2004.

But, he added, "It still remains to be a dangerous place, as the loss of these military soldiers in Iraq underscores."

Pawlenty noted that half of the 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are scheduled to leave by next summer, with all due to be out of the country by Dec. 31, 2011.

"It's going to be a major change in the presence of the American military in Iraq, and that reflects in the decreased violence, but it also reflects the hope and the expectation that Iraq is now going to be able to stand up on its own two feet and take over these responsibilities itself," he said.

Pawlenty pointed out the responsibilities given to Minnesota's Red Bull division, which commands more than 15,000 coalition forces on the ground. He said "it's a reflection and a testimony of how well regarded (the) Minnesota National Guard is in the larger national military structure."

Pawlenty was among five governors making the trip to Iraq. The governors of Illinois, Missouri, Nevada and Texas also made the trip.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)