English: U.S. soldiers from the Friedberg, Germany-based 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, fire a 21-gun salute in honor of U.S. Army Sgt. David J. Almazan during a memorial service for Almazan Aug. 31, 2006, in Hit, Iraq. Almazan, a 26-year-old from Van Nuys, Calif., and 1997 graduate of Van Nuys Senior High School, was killed in action Aug. 27 while on a combat patrol in Hit, a city of 30,000 in Iraq's Al Anbar Province and located about 70 miles northwest of Ramadi. His platoon was on patrol to clear the city's streets of improvised explosive devices, deadly roadside bombs used by insurgents to target Coalition and Iraqi forces, the day he was killed. Almazan, a medic with 1-36, was in Iraq less than a month when he died. The battalion is part of Regimental Combat Team 7, the U.S. military unit which provides security and mentors Iraqi Security Forces in Iraq's western Al Anbar Province.