A soldier salutes during a memorial ceremony Thursday in Grafenwoehr to honor Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos and Pfc. Michael Yates, who were killed at Camp Liberty in Iraq when Army Sgt. John M. Russell allegedly opened fire at a combat stress control center last week. (Seth Robson / Stars and Stripes)

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — The commander of Task Force 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment has urged his men to move past the horror and anger caused by the alleged murder of two comrades by another U.S. soldier.

Lt. Col. Louis B. Rago II made the plea during a memorial in Iraq for Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos and Pfc. Michael Yates, who were killed May 4 at Camp Liberty in Iraq when Army Sgt. John M. Russell allegedly opened fire at a combat stress control center. Three other servicemembers also were killed in the shootings.

Rago’s words from the Iraq ceremony on Saturday were read at a memorial ceremony at Grafenwöhr on Thursday.

Soldiers can understand and accept the pain of losing comrades in battle, Rago said.

"But, losing comrades in the manner in which we have lost Christian and Michael is far more difficult to understand," he said. "Many of us are filled with anger. Many of us share the disbelief that something like this could happen to an American soldier, let alone two of our own.

"It is confusing and very hard to accept. But, accept it we must.

"We must move beyond the terrible circumstance. We must honor our fallen brothers by remembering their service — the way they served and lived, not the way they died."

Bueno-Galdos, 25, was an energetic leader who played a key role in keeping the Task Force Headquarters Company running while Yates was an eager young cavalry scout focused on earning combat spurs, he said.

The dead soldiers’ company commander, Capt. Kevin W. Bukowski, whose words from the Iraq ceremony were also read at Thursday’s service, said the pair died in "circumstances that one thinks could have been avoided due to any number of factors."

All that is academic now, and members of the unit probably won’t know what exactly happened for many months, he said.

"Yates was the definition of the word ‘hard-charger.’ Whenever the scouts were doing something cool, I knew Yates would be at the forefront with that grin of his."

Yates, 19, was exactly the kind of trooper needed in the scout platoon — a scrapper who wasn’t afraid to lock horns, Bukowski said.

"I’m not saying I’d want a platoon of Yateses, but being a scout suited him. When I heard that he was starting to have problems, I was glad to hear that he had the courage to seek help," he said.

Seeking help meant Yates came to the headquarters platoon for a spell, Bukowski said.

"After a couple of days, he was referred to the CSC (Combat Stress Center) at Liberty so I decided to send him there and, hopefully, he would be back in the scout platoon by the end of the week ... back to where he wanted to be," he said.

Bueno-Galdos, whose name tag read "Bueno," was sent to Camp Liberty to escort Yates, he added.

"Sergeant Bueno had been doing a great job for the last six months and could have used the break for a couple of days. I hear Liberty has a great salsa night, which would suit Sergeant Bueno fine," he recalled.

Spc. Jonathon Roman, whose comments from Iraq were also read, said Yates drove his vehicle in Iraq and the pair spent many hours together on patrol.

"He was never without a wisecrack to make us laugh, whether it be to an NCO or one of his peers. It didn’t matter to him," he said.

Yates, who was the father of a 1-year-old son, Kamren, had the heart of a lion, Roman added.

"It didn’t matter who you were or how big you were, he would never back down," he said.

Sgt. Joel M. Celona, who also spoke at the Iraq memorial ceremony, said Bueno-Galdos, a native of Peru, was a generous person who embraced life and lived it to the fullest.

Russell, of the Bamberg, Germany-based 54th Engineer Battalion, has been charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault in the Baghdad shootings, The Associated Press reported.

Also killed in the shootings were Navy Cmdr. Charles Springle, 52; Army reservist Maj. Matthew Houseal, 54; and Spc. Jacob Barton, 20.