US real-life Private Ryan tells story

Jason Hubbard, a US soldier in Iraq whose brothers were both killed in action, has arrived back home and told the story of his brother's death.

The soldier began his military career aged 19 and still grieving for his older brother Marine Lance Corporal Jared Hubbard who was killed in 2004 by a roadside bomb.

Jason was on a scouting mission in Kirkuk and in the same platoon as his other brother Nathan, when one of their group's Black Hawk helicopters crashed.

Jason said: "I went through all the emotions of telling myself that it was them and then rationalising and arguing that hey maybe it wasn't them."

Jason's team had to secure the crash site, removing equipment, weapons and the bodies of comrades from the wreckage.

The task proved too much for the solider. He said: "I tried several times to kind of gather myself, but I just, I couldn't.

"At one point they did carry Nathan by me, and that's when reality, complete reality and a complete understanding of the situation came to me and I've been dealing with that."

Nathan's body was flown back to the US on Wednesday. Hundreds of local residents and army reservists waved flags as a hearse took the coffin to a funeral home.

The boys' father said his belief in the war is still resolute in spite of his sons' deaths.

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