A thread to honor  those Californians that made the ultimate sacrifice we will list every single one of these heroes and their stories you are welcome to comment or add a name I will start it off.  I did not know him but he lived a couple miles from me.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            









Phillip West
Sunday, November 21, 2004

By CARLOS VILLATORO
Register Staff Writer

A Marine from American Canyon has paid the ultimate price for the country he loved.

Lance Corporal Phillip G. West, 19, was killed Friday morning while on patrol in Fallujah, Iraq. The young infantryman had been in the war-torn country since June.

"My son is a hero," Ed West, Phillip's father, said Saturday. "He had a goal of fighting for his country. He had a goal of becoming a Marine."

                                                                                                                                                    Ed West said his son was on patrol and was hit with an improvised explosive device, a type of bomb used by insurgents in which they wait for an opposing soldier to walk by before detonating it.

Another Marine, Dimitrios Gavriell of New York, died in Fallujah the same day.

As an infantryman, West's job included guarding, patrolling, fighting and doing building sweeps. West was a 2003 graduate of Vintage High School, who loved and played football for the high school, Ed West said. He was also a lifeguard in American Canyon who taught many kids to swim.

Memorial services for West will be announced this week.

"He loved his country," Ed West said. "He loved the Marine Corps (and) ... was very patriotic."

More on the story will appear in Monday's Register.

I just hate reading these stories in the news. It makes me feel very very sad.

Quoted: I just hate reading these stories in the news. It makes me feel very very sad.

yeah me too im in san diego so there are bunch of local guys who have been lossed. Too many good men

Jared Hubbard , Jeremiah Baro

Valley Marines Killed in Iraq

They were close friends in high school and both chose to join the military. But, an explosion in Iraq has left two Valley marines dead and a local high school in shock.



Jared Hubbard and Jeremiah Baro were close friends at Buchanan High School and they were serving together overseas.

They were both well known in the Buchanan community and both graduated in 2001. Both were on the wrestling team, with Jared on the football team. Tragically, both died in Iraq on Wednesday.

The two Marines, best friends since childhood, joined up together. They were on their second tour of duty in Iraq as a sniper team.

Their families were notified Thursday morning that both were killed in an explosion in the city of Ramadi.

Some of their friends gathered together to share their sorrow and their friend Paul Facio spoke with Action News, "I know Jeremiah has two great little brothers, and they're just not going to have that older brother around anymore. That hurts me the most. Jared is really good, he made time to be with his friends and his family. He was always doing extra hobbies with his brother, his sister, and he always made time for everyone. They're losing a great brother and a great son."

Jared Hubbard was just 22-years-old. Jeremiah was 21-year-old and his birthday was next month.

The Defense Department has not released information about their deaths. The families were told there was an explosion. There was also mention of an accident.

The Defense Department is not expected to released details until Friday

Neil Roberts



family speaks out about there hero son

In the, snow-capped mountains of eastern Afghanistan, seven American soldiers were killed on Monday.
 



We are learning more about the northern California Navy Seal Officer who lost his life in Afghanistan. Neil Roberts grew up in Woodland and later moved to Virginia. As Charlotte Fadipe reports, his family is struggling to come to terms with his death.
 
 
Roberts' support mission ended up being a combated one that lasted 18 hours.


32-year-old Neil Roberts, a Navy Seal left behind a good-bye note to his wife. It read, "I loved being a seal, if I died doing something for the teams then I died doing what made me happy."

It may be some comfort to his grieving family in Woodland, but it does not shed light on how the first class petty officer was killed.

In the, snow-capped mountains of eastern Afghanistan, seven American soldiers were killed on Monday in the deadliest battle since the war on terrorism began in October. It appears Intelligence information seriously miscalculated how many enemy fighters were left in this region.

Roberts' support mission ended up being a combated one that lasted 18 hours.

President Bush: "As long as I am president of the United States, I will pursue those who hurt America."

It's believed Roberts fell to the ground after his chopper was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. Some reports indicate that he may have been dragged away and shot by Al-Qaeda fighters.

Roberts is a twin who attended Woodland High School. As his family prepares for his burial, one brother told me on the telephone…

 
 
Roberts is a twin who attended Woodland High School.



Roberts' Brother: "He was grateful for the support the town of Woodland has shown his family at this difficult time."

Some local Woodland officers were doing some fundraising to pay for the entire Roberts family to go to Virginia for his burial. But it now appears that the Navy is taking care of the costs.
 



 

Mick Bekowsky



Concord Marine Dies In Iraq Suicide Bombing
Sept. 8 (BCN) — The grandmother of U.S. Marine Cpl. Mick R. Bekowsky said today that her grandson died in Iraq Monday while protecting the freedom of every single American.


"We want everyone to know, he died to protect your freedom, not just his mother's, not just his father's, everybody's," Cecile Bekowsky said today.

Bekowsky, 21, of Concord, was killed along with six other Marines in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Tuesday.

According to the department, Bekowsky was assigned to the Second Battalion, First Marine Regiment, First Marine Division of the I Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Pendleton.

Bekowsky signed up with the Marines in June 2001, two months after he graduated from Concord High School and one month after he turned 18 years old, his grandmother said today.

"He's always wanted to be something having to do with macho soldiers," Cecile said.

He was doing what he loved and he was good at it, his father, Brian Bekowsky said today. He was a "patriot to the bone" and a leader, the elder Bekowsky said.

Bekowsky was called to duty shortly after Sept. 11, which was sooner than he expected, according to his family.

He had the option not to go, but he chose to anyway, Cecile said. "I told him this isn't what you signed up for," but he felt it was his patriotic duty to go, she said.

Cecile described her grandson as outdoorsy and said he liked to do all the typical "boy-type" things such as hunting, fishing, and riding dirt bikes. He was strong, she said, and a football player in high school.

Bekowsky's father described him as "your average kid," with an emphasis on the word "kid," and said he wants people to really understand that about his son.

"He was just like the kid who lives down the street from you or works in the supermarket.

"People forget that these men and women we send over there are not men and women, they are kids," Brian said.

Bekowsky died on his second tour in Iraq, a little over a month before he was due to come home, his grandmother said.

"The first time he came home, we had a big party," Cecile said.

In front of his family's Concord home stands a flagpole Bekowsky carved before he was first sent to Iraq. He raised a flap up it and told his family to leave it there until he returned, according to Cecile.


Today that flag flies at half-mast, as do many others around Contra Costa County, in honor of Bekowsky, his family said.

He father said in honor of his son and other fallen soldiers, he wants people to look at themselves and ask, "'what have done today to deserve to have someone dying for me?"'

Bekowsky is survived by his father, Brian, his mother, Joan, his grandmother Cecile and his 13-year-old sister, Haley.

The Bekowsky family is planning funeral services that will be open to the public, his father said.

Andres Perez


Capitola Marine Dies in Fallujah

Andres Perez was 21.

 
CBS5.com Staff

Another Marine from Northern California has been killed in Iraq.

The parents of 21-year-old Andres Perez learned Monday morning that their son died in combat in Fallujah. Perez was from Capitola, and joined the Marines shortly after graduating from Harbor High School in 2001.

Perez's 19-year-old sister Elvira is also in the Marines. She's been placed on non-deployment status to avoid the risk of another death in the family.

Erick Hodges
 

Hundreds paid their respects Friday to a Bay Area casualty of the war in Iraq.

Marine Lance Cpl. Erick Hodges of Bay Point had just turned 21 when he died in a firefight in Fallujah. He was on his second tour of Iraq.

At the Salvation Army Community Church in Concord Friday, hundreds turned out to mourn the young Marine. Hodges' parents were presented with their son's Purple Heart medal.

Hodges was to be buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno with full military honors.

Oscar Jimenez


Marine from San Diego killed in Iraq

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — A 34-year-old Marine from San Diego was killed while fighting in the Anbar province of Iraq, military officials have announced.

Marine 1st Lt. Oscar Jimenez was killed by enemy fire on Sunday, the Department of Defense said Monday.

Jimenez was a logistics officer assigned to the Headquarters and Support Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Twentynine Palms.

Jimenez joined the Marines in August 2001 and was assigned to his current unit the following year.

He first deployed to Iraq in 2003 and was redeployed in February 2004.

Jimenez received the Combat Action Ribbon, the Good Conduct Medal, the Navy/Marine Achievement Medal, the Navy Unit Commendation, the Presidential Unit Citation, Kuwait Liberation medals, two Southwest Asia Service Medals, the Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons.

Jimenez has been recommended for the Purple Heart.

He is survived by a wife and three children.

Bump for an excellent post.

pie is going to post all of them. maybe we can start some sort of a fund for these guys familys

Michael D. Anderson Jr.




Modesto Marine Killed in Iraq Honored for His Service
The first serviceman from Stanislaus County to die in combat in Iraq was laid to rest near Modesto on Monday.

Marine Corporal Michael D. Anderson Jr. was remembered as a hero by family and friends at during a funeral service at Calvary Temple. "Freedom is not free," said Michael Anderson Sr., the Marine's father. "There's a price to be paid. My son paid it. Let us pray it's not in vain."

Another Modesto Marine who witnessed the younger Anderson's death wrote to his family that the corporal was fatally shot while conducting a house-to-house search for insurgents in Fallujah on December 14.

Anderson had served in the Marine Corps for three years as a member of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. The unit is based in Camp Pendleton. The 21-year-old Anderson was deployed to Iraq three months ago.

Anderson's family chose Lakewood Cemetery east of Modesto for the Marine's burial. The service included a police escort and sheriff helicopter flying overhead. Anderson had wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement following his military service.

Edwin W. Roodhouse





A computer engineer who once lived in the Bay Area and joined the Army in response to Sept. 11 was killed Dec. 5 by a roadway bomb in Iraq, the Pentagon said Monday.

Army Spc. Edwin W. Roodhouse, 36, was killed in his humvee by the blast in Habbaniyah, the Pentagon said. Roodhouse joined the Army two years ago, said Marcia Williams, an acquaintance of his family.

"After 9/11, he wanted to serve the country," she said.

A native of Lemoore (Kings County), he spent part of his teen years in the Bay Area and he also worked in the Bay Area for about 10 years as a computer networking engineer, she said. Part of the time, he lived in Marin County.

He was unmarried and without children, Williams said.

"Ed was a marvelous man," said a statement from Roodhouse's father, commercial real estate developer Alan Roodhouse, and his stepmother, Donna, both of McMinnville, Ore.

"Ed was unique -- he was a trained computer network engineer who worked for various companies,'' the statement said. "He also loved to write and tell stories, and he enjoyed literature."

After enlisting, Edwin Roodhouse was "first deployed to Korea, where he was attached to (a headquarters unit) and drove staff officers around and performed administrative duties consistent with his age and civilian skills," the family statement said.

In South Korea, his father and stepmother said, "he requested transfer to a different company so that he could be in the infantry and use the training he had received as an infantryman. That is how he ended up in Iraq. The last time he was home was June, between assignments."

The family learned of his death last Tuesday.

The area where he was killed has witnessed many insurgent attacks against U.S. forces. It lies between Ramadi and Fallujah, which recently have been targeted by American military counteroffensives.

Because of his interest in writing and storytelling, his family has established a scholarship in his name for seniors in English at Hillsdale College, in Hillsdale, Mich., where his 24-year-old brother Ben recently graduated and where his 18-year-old sister Kate is enrolled.

Contributions may be made to the Edwin William Roodhouse Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o John Cervini, Hillsdale College, 33 College St., Hillsdale, MI 49242.

He has two other brothers, Eric, 34, and Alex, 22, who is in the Navy. Alex is on emergency leave from his deployment with the Milius, a guided- missile destroyer.

A Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. James Catholic Church in McMinnville, followed by a 3 p.m. military burial at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Ore.

Killed with Roodhouse was Staff Sgt. Marvin L. Trost, 28, of Goshen, Ind. Both were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division from Camp Greaves in South Korea, the Pentagon said.

The Pentagon earlier reported that another soldier from the same division, Staff Sgt. Kyle A. Eggers, 27, of Euless, Texas, died Dec. 5 when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Habbaniyah. The McMinnville News-Register said Eggers was in the same humvee with Roodhouse.

A total of 1,294 U.S. military deaths have been reported in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion began in March 2003, the Pentagon said.

E-mail Charles Burress

Kyle Crowley





Marine dies in Iraq



SAN RAMON, Calif. — When Kyle Crowley decided to join the Marines and head off to Iraq, his father feared for his son’s safety.

Those fears proved prescient when the 18-year old from San Ramon was killed April 6 in a gun battle in Iraq.

“I’m just really proud of Kyle and his achievements,” his father, Mark Crowley, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I’m really saddened by the loss of his young life and that his blood was spilled on foreign soil.”

Crowley is one of three San Francisco Bay area residents killed in Iraq this week. Marine Lance Cpl. Travis J. Layfield, 19, of Fremont, was also killed the same day, and Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, 24, of Vacaville, died earlier that week.

Crowley was mourned at California High School, which he attended for 3½ years before graduating from alternative Del Amigo High School last spring.

“He was proud to wear his uniform and so excited about being a Marine,” California High principal Mark Corti said. “I saw the growth in him, the maturity, the self-confidence, self-esteem. He was just a new young man. He was so proud that he had gone through that training.”

Mark Crowley served in the Army and was opposed to his son’s decision to enter the military even though he admits it helped his son mature.

“I was pretty much against Kyle joining. I was fearful of his safety,” Mark Crowley said.

A memorial at California High School was scheduled for April 8 and a candlelight vigil will be held in San Ramon the following night.

Kyle’s friend Gray Kaempf was stunned when he heard the news.

“My heart was in my stomach when Kyle’s dad called me,” Kaempf told the Contra Costa Times. “I was thinking about Kyle, wondering where he was and how he was doing.

“To be a Marine was the dream he wanted. He was very brave. He went over there and gave everything he had for his country. His death makes the war so real I might be fighting over there, too.”

Kyle Crowley is survived by his father, his mother, Mary, and sister, Nichole, 20.

Died:
April 06, 2004  
 
 

Sean A. Silva




Flags lowered for Sacramento-area soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Capitol flags were lowered to half-staff Tuesday as Gov. Gray Davis expressed condolences over the death last week of a soldier from Roseville killed in Baghdad, Iraq.

Pvt. Sean A. Silva, 23, was one of two soldiers killed Thursday in what the U.S. military said was an ambush. He was assigned to 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Polk, La.

Four other soldiers were wounded about 8 p.m. as they patrolled Sadr City, the largest Shiite Muslim enclave in Baghdad, the military said.

A military spokesman said the soldiers were coaxed from their vehicles by civilians who said they wanted to show them “something important.” They were then attacked with guns, rocket-propelled grenades and makeshift explosives, and were eventually rescued by an Army quick reaction force.

Shiite Muslims denied there was an ambush and said fighters loyal to a radical Shiite cleric engaged the patrol as it approached their leader’s headquarters, with the Americans firing first. Iraqis reported two Iraqis died and seven were wounded.

Davis, in a statement, called Silva “a courageous American soldier, who paid the ultimate price while serving his country. He will be sorely missed. As Californians, and as Americans, we are eternally grateful for his sacrifice.”

The Capitol flags will remain lowered through Thursday.

Killed with Silva was Christopher W. Swisher, 26, of Lincoln, Neb.

--------------------
cbs2.com/california/CA--IraqCasualty-Sanc-kn/resources_news_html

Infantryman from Modesto dies in Mosul
Saturday January 01, 2005

MODESTO, Calif. (AP) Pfc. Oscar Sanchez and his wife intended to go on a cruise when he returned from Iraq in February. Instead, Tiffany Sanchez has been making funeral arrangements.

An attack in Mosul killed the 19-year-old private first class on Dec. 29, two days before the couple's first wedding anniversary.

Sanchez went to Iraq in October as part of a Stryker unit from Fort Lewis, Wash. He was manning an observation outpost when insurgents launched a two-stage attack, said Dick Devlin, public information officer at Fort Lewis.

First, suicide bombers drove a truck into the Stryker outpost and detonated 1,500 pounds of explosives. As a patrol responded with aid, a second bomber blew up an explosives-filled car.

Of 15 injured soldiers, Sanchez was among nine who were rushed to treatment at an Army hospital at Mosul Airfield. He died the same day.

``When he came back, we wanted to buy a house, and last year we didn't have a honeymoon, so we were going to go on a cruise,'' Tiffany Sanchez, also 19, told The Modesto Bee. ``We thought probably the Bahamas or Hawaii, somewhere beachy. It really didn't matter, as long as we had a good time and we were together.''

Sanchez entered active duty in October 2003, Devlin said. He arrived at Fort Lewis on Feb. 15, 2004, after undergoing basic training and advanced individual training at Fort Benning, Ga.

He was assigned to Iraq as part of 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team).

Family members said he joined the army because he wanted to get a good job and provide for his family.

``His hopes and dreams were always to take care of his brothers and of getting his things together,'' said a cousin, 30-year-old Stella Padilla. ``A home for his father. A home for his brother.''

Sanchez was a decorated hero. He had earned the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal and the Army Service Ribbon. Posthumously, he was awarded the Bronze Star, which is given for valor or service; the Purple Heart; and the Good Conduct Medal, Devlin said.

The attack that killed Sanchez came two days after the funeral for Modesto Marine Cpl. Michael Anderson Jr., 21.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Daniel Paul Unger





National Guard Soldier Pays Ultimate Sacrifice in Iraq

by Lt. Col. Stan Zezotarski
16 June 2004

 
 Spec. Daniel Paul Unger

A California National Guard soldier died Monday May 25th, and five others were wounded, as a result of hostile fire on their base near Kalsu, Iraq.

Spec. Daniel Paul Unger, 19, Company A, 1st Battalion, 185th Armor Regiment was fatally wounded during a rocket attack in Kalsu, Iraq, on May 26th (PDST time), according to Army Casualty reports. Staff Sgt. Kenneth Jay Padilla, of Apple Valley, Spec. Brian Anthony Martinez, hometown unknown; Sgt Edward Martinez, Irvine; Maj. Steven Vaughn Harrell, of Menifee; and Pfc. Michael Leland Wareham, hometown unknown, sustained shrapnel injuries and are expected to recover.

“Specialist Unger possessed the character and Faith that are essential soldiering ingredients and so vital to sustain our nation,” said Major General Thomas Eres, the adjutant general, California National Guard. “Neither the best plan, the shrewdest strategy, nor the finest equipment have any value for a commander if he does not have soldiers with the character that Specialist Unger exemplified in his young life. The Nation and the California National Guard are greatly indebted to Specialist Unger and his family. I want to reassure his parents that their son’s name and sacrifice, as well as those who have died before him, will be kept alive in the annals of California National Guard tradition and history.”

Unger, a resident of Exeter, joined the California National Guard on the delayed entry program when he was 17-years-old, according to Sgt. 1st Class James Morrelli, readiness NCO for Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 185th Infantry Regiment. He had just completed his advanced individual training in October 2003 before he was, in essence, mobilized on his very first drill in November. He graduated from Exeter High School in the Spring of 2003. He had a black belt in Karate and was an excellent baseball player, according to family and friends. His father, Marc Unger also has a black belt and is a Karate instructor. The elder Unger is a Baptist Minister and visited the unit armory several times since his son was mobilized offering prayers and comfort to other soldiers and families whose loved ones were also deployed.

Local soldiers have fond memories of Unger who was also very involved in his Baptist Faith. Morelli said that Unger had always wanted to be in the military. Unger’s awards include Army Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. He will receive the Purple Heart posthumously.

Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 185th Infantry Regiment First Sergeant Sidney E. Whitt felt that Unger had unlimited career potential. The unit attempted to promote him to Specialist before he deployed based on his leadership potential and character, but was unable to do so until he completed basic requirements and time in grade necessary for the next step. Unger’s leadership qualities, however, caught up to him during the mobilization process when 185th Armor leadership successfully promoted him to Specialist.

“It’s a great loss to our unit,” Morelli said. “We recruited him and watched him grow before he transferred to the Armor Battalion. He is much, much more than an unknown 19-year-old. He was a very upfront and solid young man.”

Unger is survived by his father Marc, his mother Linda, a younger brother and two younger sisters.

Adam Estep
San Jose man Dies in Iraq

Adam Estep was 23.

 



Sgt. Adam Estep was killed Thursday outside of Baghdad, when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle.

Estep, 23, was supposed to come home April 12th, but his stay in Iraq was extended by 14 months. He came home for a two-day leave last month, where he married his high school sweetheart, who he met while attending Prospect High School in Saratoga.

"I know my son was a good man, and he was doing what he believed was right," said Ken Estep, Adam's father. "For that reason, I want it known he gave the ultimate committment."

Cole Larsen
policeman from Canyon Country killed in Iraq

SANTA CLARITA – Army Pfc. Cole W. Larsen loved the outdoors and spent weekends in the hills riding his motorized dirt bike and hunting with his father.

The 19-year-old military policeman put the same enthusiasm into making everyone he knew laugh and smile.

"The first time I ever met him, he came over to our house, and I remember he pushed me off my tricycle, and we were friends ever since," said a neighbor, 19-year-old Chad Whitaker, who graduated from high school with Larsen last year. "He used to play jokes on everyone. He always made people laugh."

Larsen was killed Saturday in a vehicle accident in Baghdad, Iraq, two weeks after he returned to the country for a second six-month tour of duty. He was assigned to 272nd Military Police Company, 21st Theater Support Command, and based in Mannheim, Germany.

During his two-week visit home to Canyon Country, just north of the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Clarita, Larsen took his 17-year-old sister Haley to her homecoming dance.

Larsen was good with his hands and could fix things, including a car engine, neighbors and family friends said.

They said Larsen always dreamed of joining the military, riding his bicycle to the local recruiting office when he was just 10 years old. He enlisted in the Army soon after graduating from high school.

"He wasn't afraid when he left here," neighbor Debby Artega said. "He looked right at me and told me he wanted to go back and be with his buddies."


 
Information from: (Los Angeles) Daily News, www.dailynews.com

Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr.

Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr.

34, of Tracy, Calif.; assigned to the 579th Engineer Battalion, Army National Guard, Petaluma, Calif.; killed June 22 when enemy forces ambushed his ground patrol in Balad, Iraq.

TRACY, Calif. — Patrick McCaffrey joined the National Guard in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because, family members said, he wanted to make a difference.

But McCaffrey had become disillusioned with his mission before his death Tuesday in an ambush in Iraq.

McCaffrey and fellow Guard member 2nd Lt. Andre Tyson were killed near the city of Balad, located 85 miles north of Baghdad, according to a California National Guard news release Wednesday.

Both were in Alpha Company, 579th Engineer Battalion, based in Petaluma.

McCaffrey, a 34-year-old Army specialist from Tracy, was a manager with a collision repair company in the Silicon Valley when he enlisted in the National Guard.

McCaffrey’s family said he was training Iraqis to become military police before he died.

“I’m really proud of him,” his wife, Silvia McCaffrey, told the Tracy Press. “He was a hero to me, and I guess all my family.”

But his mother, Nadia McCaffrey, said he had lost faith in the U.S. mission after arriving in Iraq this spring.

“He was overwhelmed by the hatred there for Americans and Europeans,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “He was so ashamed by the prisoner abuse scandal. He even sent me an e-mail to tell me that not all the soldiers were like that. He said we had no business in Iraq and should not be there. Even so, he wanted to be a good soldier.”

McCaffrey was born in Santa Clara. He was married and had a son in Silicon Valley before moving away with his second wife about four years ago. His first son, Patrick Jr., lives with his mother.

McCaffrey also is survived by his father, Bob.







 
 




     

Jesse Mizener



Northern California soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

AUBURN, Calif. — A Northern California soldier died this week when a mortar round hit a Baghdad-area logistics base, officials said.

Pfc. Jesse D. Mizener, 24, died Jan. 7, the Department of Defense said.

In November, Mizener told The Auburn Journal newspaper that the mortar attacks were unsettling and all too common in Iraq.

“You miss home the most when you get mortared,” he told the newspaper. “It gets scary, especially when you see it land and see how close it is. That’s when you really think about home a lot.”

He is survived by his wife, Nicole, two daughters, ages 2 and 1, and a 2-month-old son, all of Auburn, Calif., about 35 miles east of Sacramento.

Mizener attended Bear Creek High School in Stockton, Calif., where his parents still live, said family spokeswoman Cindee DeGolia. The family declined to comment, but planned to hold a news conference in Stockton.

Mizener returned home in November in time for the birth of his son, his brother, Brian Mizener, told The Stockton Record newspaper. He was scheduled to come home for good soon, his brother said.

“We stopped worrying; his time was so short,” Brian Mizener told the newspaper.

Mizener, a construction equipment repairer, was assigned to the 542nd Maintenance Company, 44th Corps Support Battalion, 593rd Corps Support Group based at Fort Lewis.

His unit provides direct support and maintenance of Humvees, weapons, communications equipment and generators, said Brendalyn Carpenter, a spokeswoman for Fort Lewis.

During this deployment in Iraq, Mizener’s unit was attached to the 541st Maintenance Battalion, 3rd Corps Support Command, Carpenter said.


Died:
January 07, 2004  
 
 

Quoc Binh "Bo" Tran



IRVINE, Calif. — Spc. Quoc Binh “Bo” Tran always told his family he wasn’t in danger in Iraq.

When he spoke to his mother for the last time a week ago, he told her again that he was safe because he was in a support battalion, not on the front lines.

“Don’t worry,” said Tran, a member of the California Army National Guard.

Tran, 26, of Mission Viejo, died Nov. 7 after an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad.

His father, Van Tran, was a former second lieutenant in the South Vietnamese army who says he was captured and placed in a “re-education camp” after the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Van Tran said that as a young boy, Bo Tran had carried one sister on his shoulders and led the other by the hand as the family fled through the jungle in Vietnam.

Bo Tran had wanted to be a soldier since he was a little boy, his father said.

“I’m proud of Bo,” said Van Tran, an engineer in Irvine. “I’m proud he served his country.”

Tran was deployed with the 81st Brigade Combat team based at Camp Murray, Wash., about 30 miles south of Seattle.

He was a member of Detachment 3, Company B, 181st Support Battalion, which is located in San Bernardino. It is a unit of the Seattle-based 181st Support Battalion.


 
 

Christopher Kenneth Hill




A soldier who rejoined the Army after a three-year absence so that he would have a hand in the war against terrorism was buried in Pineville, N.C., leaving behind a wife and their 14-month-old daughter.

More than 200 people came to Independent Bible Baptist Church on March 18 to remember Spc. Christopher Kenneth Hill, 26, of Moorpark, Calif.

Many of the mourners spoke from a pulpit surrounded by flowers and photo collages showing Hill from childhood to fatherhood. They recalled Hill as an outgoing man whose love of country was surpassed only by his love of family.

“He was a father. He was a son. He was a brother and a great friend,” said Jeremy McCarver, the pastor who married Hill and his wife, Cheryl.

Hill was to have seen the couple’s daughter, Cierra, for the first time in nearly a year on March 21, when he was scheduled to start a two-week leave.

A remote-controlled bomb ended that dream last week. Hill, a member of the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division based at Fort Riley, Kan., was riding in the lead vehicle of a convoy rolling through Fallujah, Iraq, on March 11 when an explosion killed him and Staff Sgt. Joe Dunigan Jr., 37.

This was Hill’s second time in the Army. He served four years in Korea and Virginia before leaving active duty and moving to Charlotte in July 2002 to be with Cheryl Hill. They married two months later.

He re-enlisted in April because he missed the Army and couldn’t stand not being a part of the war, his wife has said.

“He couldn’t let her (Cierra) grow up in a world where she didn’t feel safe,” said Clint Nawara, who served with Hill during his first stint in the Army.

Hill was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. The medals were presented Thursday to his widow.

Quoted: Adam Estep San Jose man Dies in Iraq Adam Estep was 23.   Sgt. Adam Estep was killed Thursday outside of Baghdad, when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle. Estep, 23, was supposed to come home April 12th, but his stay in Iraq was extended by 14 months. He came home for a two-day leave last month, where he married his high school sweetheart, who he met while attending Prospect High School in Saratoga. "I know my son was a good man, and he was doing what he believed was right," said Ken Estep, Adam's father. "For that reason, I want it known he gave the ultimate committment."

Adam was best friend of Arfcom's own mcwarrior (my son). This one hit really close to home.

Adam W. Estep

23, of Campbell, Calif.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed April 29 when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his patrol in Baghdad.






California soldier killed in Iraq ‘never showed fear’

Associated Press

SARATOGA, Calif. — Sgt. Adam Estep was remembered Tuesday by friends and family as a soldier who never showed fear, even in the most violent battles.

Estep, a 23-year-old tank driver, died April 29 in a rocket-propelled grenade attack outside Baghdad.

“Every day he touched lives in ways that cannot be erased,” friend and Marine Sgt. Jason Steele said at the funeral. “We should all aspire to be like him. You all must rejoice in the memories we have of him and know that he will always be with you.”

Estep, who was active in ROTC in high school in San Jose, joined the Army in 2000 and drove tanks for the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment and 1st Cavalry Division.

He had been stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and served a six-month tour in Kuwait. In December, the Army extended his commitment for 14 months. He left for Iraq in March.

http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/12053973p-12924131c.html

Twentynine Palms Marine killed in Iraq
The Associated Press
Last Updated 4:39 am PST Sunday, January 16, 2005
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (AP) - When Zachariah S. Davis received orders to return to Iraq last summer, the 25-year-old Marine sergeant had just witnessed the birth of his second son and was worried about leaving his family.

"We talked about it and he said he had a bad feeling," said his father, Terry Davis. "But he's a Marine and he knew he had to go. He understood."

A vehicle commander based at Twentynine Palms, Davis was killed on Jan. 6 during enemy action in Iraq's volatile Anbar province. His family was told the cause was a roadside bomb.

The son of a career Marine, Davis enlisted after graduating from Twentynine Palms High School and was among the first U.S. troops to infiltrate Baghdad before the war. He worked for the San Bernardino County Fire Department and enjoyed the outdoors and Tom Clancy novels.

But much of his time was reserved for his family. Davis was so happy after learning of his wife's first pregnancy that he did cartwheels, he wife said. Later, he sang lullabies to his sons.

"He wasn't just a Marine, he was also a dad. He was one of the best. You couldn't ask for better," said his wife, Angela.

She said she would always treasure an electronic card he e-mailed her from Iraq days before his death. It read: "No matter what, I'll be falling in love with you over and over again, every day."

"He wasn't just my husband, he was my best friend," his wife said.

Davis was assigned to the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

During a funeral Friday, his casket was carried to the base's Protestant chapel on one of several fire engines that participated in the service. Besides his wife and sons, he is survived by his parents and siblings.

---

Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.co

Atanasio Martin



Baldwin Park soldier died from enemy fire in Iraq

Associated Press

BALDWIN PARK, Calif. — An Army sergeant ambushed and killed this week in Iraq was remembered by his family as a proud and courageous soldier who was living out a long-held dream of serving in the U.S. military.

Atanasio Haro Marin Jr. — whose name was spelled Atanacio Haromarin in a military announcement — died June 3 when his checkpoint was attacked with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades.

“It takes a lot of courage to serve,” said Ismael Haro Marin, his older brother. “We are all going to miss him, we are missing him already. We wish it was a dream. We are trying to wake up to reality. There is so much pain.”

Marin, 27, known as “Nacho” to his family, was born in Momax, Mexico, and lived there with his mother while his father, Atanasio, worked in California picking fruit and doing construction jobs to support seven children.

The family reunited in Los Angeles when he was 2, later moving to suburban Baldwin Park east of the city.

He competed on the Sierra Vista High School track team and also ran in a Los Angeles Marathon.

Upon graduation, he joined the National Guard over the objections of his parents, the family told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. When his tour of duty ended, he transferred to the Army, and was making the military a career.

“I want to run from here and go to wherever he is at,” his distraught mother, Catalina, told KMEX-TV. “I want to see him even if he is dead, I want to kiss him.”

Marin was assigned to Battery C, 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas.

He last saw his family during a January leave, two months before he left for the Middle East.

He managed to call home twice in April and had sent a Mother’s Day card that read: “Don’t worry, be happy.”

“He was never unhappy,” said his sister-in-law, Aracely Haro Marin. “He would say, ‘Don’t worry about it, there will be better times.’ ”

Died:
June 03, 2003  
 
 

Michael Mitchell
Army Sgt. Michael W. Mitchell

25, of Porterville, Calif.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Ray Barracks, Friedberg, Germany; killed April 4 when his unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in Baghdad.
Sgt. Michael W. Mitchell found love when the Army stationed him in Germany, and he planned to bring his German fiancee home after his stint as a tank mechanic ended. Instead, Bianca Liebl had to make plans to go to Porterville, Calif., on her own. Mitchell, 25, was one of eight soldiers killed in a firefight April 4 in Baghdad. In high school, Mitchell ran cross-country and wrestled. A coach, Rich Lambie, called Mitchell "a scrappy, tenacious competitor." Months after graduation, Mitchell enlisted in the Army. He was stationed in Germany, just as his father, Bill Mitchell, had been during the Vietnam War. An older sister, Christine Jayroe, remembered Mitchell as "my little playmate." "I used to drag him and play in the dirt," Jayroe said.

— Associated Press

R.I.P.  

Thank you, God Bless

David Perry

Army Staff Sgt. David S. Perry

36, of Bakersfield, Calif.; assigned to 649th Military Police Company, Army National Guard, Camp San Luis Obispo, Calif.; killed when a suspicious package he was inspecting exploded Aug. 10 in Baquabah, Iraq.



• • • • •

As a prison guard at Wasco State Prison in California, Staff Sgt. David S. Perry was respected not only by his colleagues but by inmates as well, his supervisor said.

“He was consistent. He utilized his military ability to be very fair but firm with the inmates and very supportive with the staff,” said Lt. Troy Ojeda said.

A military policeman, Perry, 36, of Bakersfield, Calif., was killed in Baquaba, Iraq, on Aug. 10 when a package that had been dropped off at police headquarters exploded. He had been in Iraq since January.

Perry is survived by a wife and three children — ages 1, 4 and 6.

“He was a great person. He was goal-oriented. He wanted the best for the department, the best for the military and the best for his family,” Ojeda said.

— Associated Press

William James




Associated Press -- HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Marine Cpl. William C. James, killed last week in fighting in Iraq, had dreamed of military service even as a little boy, when he saluted soldiers marching in Fourth of July parades.

James was a rifleman with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division of the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

The Marine Corps said he was killed Wednesday in the al-Anbar province, although his sister, Lynn Booth of Oceanside, said he died Tuesday.

Details were not released but the province includes the town of Fallujah, where U.S. troops have been locked in fierce combat with insurgents.




James, 24, moved to Huntington Beach from a small town in North Carolina in 1997 and enlisted in the Marines after graduating from Huntington Beach High School.

"He was our big brother and we all just looked up to him," Booth told the Orange County Register.

"He had the prettiest smile. They used to call him the 'Cheshire Cat,'" Booth said. "He loved talking about the places he'd been, the things he'd done."

James came from a military family. Two of his grandfathers served in the Navy and his father, William P. James, was stationed with the Army in Germany during the Vietnam War.

James had signed up for duty protecting U.S. embassies but after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks he asked to be sent into combat, his sister said.

He was sent to Iraq in June. He sent e-mails home about every two weeks and thanked family members for sending him packages of deodorant, toothpaste and powdered strawberry lemonade.

In his last message, sent Oct. 25, James said he was going to a place where he would be unable to write home or even take a shower for 10 days at a time, his sister said.

James had talked about staying with the Marine Corps for 20 years and also about marrying his girlfriend, Mira Massimino, whom he met while stationed in Africa.

In addition to Booth, he is survived by his mother and father, another sister and a brother.




   
 
 

Gregory M. Frampton


The spotless white gloves of Army Sgt. Gregory M. Frampton's fellow soldiers moved crisply Saturday as they folded the American flag that had draped his casket and handed it to his wife.

Juliann Frampton squeezed the triangular memento to her chest.

An officer in olive dress uniform gently handed a second flag to Frampton's mother, Judith A. Frampton-Binz.

Among the mourners, several women sobbed. Family members placed yellow and red roses on the casket at St. Peter's Cemetery in Fresno. They said final good-byes to the first known central San Joaquin Valley casualty in the war in Afghanistan.

Frampton, 37, and three other soldiers died Jan. 30 in a Special Operations helicopter reportedly on a training mission.

The Black Hawk helicopter from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the Night Stalkers, went down about 12 miles east of the Bagram air base. Frampton served as crew chief.

At St. Therese Catholic Church Saturday, he was remembered more as a husband, son, brother and lover of life.

"His capacity to love was deep and heartfelt," his sister, Chamaine Silva, told the congregation. "He tended to lighten his intense emotions with fun and humor. One of his missions in life was to make people laugh."

Another was to defend freedom, Silva said, repeating what Frampton had told his wife: "I love being a soldier. I love my work. The reason why I want to go to Afghanistan is those six kids out in California and two kids in Wyoming" -- his younger sister and brother, nieces and nephews -- "I'm going so they can grow up in a world free from terrorism."

Monsignor E. James Petersen consoled the family. "I know how utterly difficult it is to lose someone so young," he said. He offered the church's rituals as comfort "used by martyrs 2,000 years ago."

"When words fail us," Petersen said, "we listen to the words of the Holy Scripture." Jesus, he said, told his followers there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for a friend.

"That love is rewarded with eternity," Petersen said.

Frampton lay in state in a room off the church's sanctuary, clothed in his olive uniform, three medals lying on the casket. Inside the sanctuary, mourners read the Night Stalker Prayer, which recalls how God "gave Saint Michael, your angelic warrior, power to do spiritual battle."

The prayer seeks God's guidance "in the defense of our country and in the maintenance of justice among the nations."

"Give us the courage to face all obstacles that might keep us from our time on target," the prayer says. It asks for "the courage to fight, to win and the faith to die rather than quit. Night Stalkers Don't Quit. Amen."

After the services and burial, family and friends celebrated Frampton's life at a reception in the Fresno Masonic Lodge.

His mother said her son had been devoted, with his fellow servicemen, to fundamental values:

"I know he would want us to carry on his legacy," she said, "family and freedom at any cost."

Asked about her son's role as a hero, Frampton-Binz said it did not change the essence of her mourning: "Greg would have done that for anybody. All the men with him would lay down their lives for one another."

Outside the reception hall, the folded flags given to Frampton-Binz and to Juliann Frampton were on display in shining wood cases along with the ribbons and medals he had won: Air Medal, Legion of Merit, AirCom, Army Advancement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal and Bronze Star.

An officer said the Bronze Star, Air Medal and Legion of Merit were awarded posthumously in services at Fort Campbell, Ky., last week.

The reporter can be reached at

Ryan C. Young

21, of Corona, Calif.; assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Fort Riley, Kan.; died Dec. 2 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., of wounds he sustained Nov. 8, 2003, when an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle in Fallujah, Iraq.





Ryan C. Young showed his fun-loving spirit in the way he wooed Sarah Smith in high school: He played practical jokes on her, tying her shoelaces together and poking holes in her soda cans. But there was more than that between him and the young woman who would become his wife.

“We had a bond I won’t have with another person,” she said. “It’s a stronger bond than anyone will ever know.”

Sgt. Young, 21, of Corona, Calif., died Dec. 2 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., of wounds he received in November when his vehicle was struck by a bomb in Iraq. He was stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., and had been deployed to Iraq in December.

Young’s mother, Kathi Cutshall, said her son was proud to be serving in the Army.

“He was so excited to go to Iraq,” Cutshall said. “That’s what he was trained to do. He wanted to protect this country.”

— Associated Press

Stephen P. Johnson




Stephen P. Johnson    
Sunday, January 30 2005 @ 11:24 AM EST
Contributed by: tomw Pasadena Star -- COVINA -- A former Covina resident was among 31 soldiers killed when a U.S. helicopter crashed earlier this week in Iraq.

Cpl. Stephen P. Johnson, 24, along with 29 other Marines and one Navy sailor, were heading west to help with security for the upcoming Iraqi elections when their CH-53E Super Stallion went down near Rutbah on Wednesday.

It marked the single-greatest loss of American life since the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003.

Johnson's brother-in-law, Jason Williams, said he was an exceptional young man and very persistent.

"He was a proud Marine," Williams said.

Joseph B. Spence  
 


Scotts Valley Marine loved Corps, copters

Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Spence -- Joey to his family, friends and fellow infantrymen in Charlie Company -- died surrounded by the men he considered brothers: his fellow Marines.

``He wanted to be a Marine since he was 9 years old,'' said Rebecca Spence, his mother. ``I was always trying to talk him out of re-enlisting. When he was home for Thanksgiving in 2003, I tried . . . and he gave me a big, long speech, and at the end of it I was in tears.''

The Marine Corps, she said, ``was his calling.''

Spence, 24, of Scotts Valley, died early Wednesday morning in the crash of a CH-53E helicopter in the desert of western Iraq. Thirty others, all but one of them Marines, perished in the crash, the deadliest single incident on the deadliest single day for U.S. troops since March 2003, when U.S. forces invaded.

The Sea Stallion chopper went down at Ar-Rutbah, about 220 miles west of Baghdad, near the Syrian and Jordanian borders. While Spence's family, quoting news reports, believe a sandstorm may have caused the crash, officially it remains under investigation, a Marine spokeswoman said Friday.

Helicopters were part of what Joey Spence loved best about the Marines, his father, Jim Spence, said. ``He liked rappelling out of choppers. He thought that was exciting,'' said Spence, a radiology technician at Watsonville Community Hospital, himself a Marine and Army veteran. ``He was like a big kid in the ultimate camping adventure you could ever imagine.''

Iraq was the setting for that adventure. His unit, the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, participated in the campaign against the Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines in 2003 (the family has a photo of him playing with Filipino kids), but when he crossed from Kuwait into Iraq in September 2004, they said, he broke into tears. He felt he had a mission to help the Iraqi people.

``When they were clearing out the houses in Al-Fallujah,'' his mother said, ``he said the Iraqi people were grateful for the Marines' presence and the Iraqi soldiers don't want them to leave. He said that America has no idea -- no idea -- what our military is doing over there and how grateful the people are. . . .

``It's not comfortable. It's not safe. But it's where he wanted to be.''

Joey Spence was born in Santa Cruz and attended area high schools, graduating in 1998. He played guitar in a garage band and liked to ``four-wheel'' around the Santa Cruz Mountains accompanied by his pit bull, Magoo, his father said.

He was an active church member, attending Gateway Bible Church in Scotts Valley.

After high school, he worked at a feed store in Scotts Valley and at Central Home Supply in Santa Cruz, where he began to freelance landscape and construction jobs to the customers. He was setting up a business -- had just gotten his first cell phone, his mother said -- when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. He joined the Marines that December.

After boot camp in San Diego and infantry school at Camp Pendleton, he was stationed at the Marine base in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

He met Elisabeth Bertsch of Scotts Valley in the mid-1990s when he was 16 and she was 14; they were married on Dec. 28, 2002.

Their daughter, Providence, was born last fall, after Joey's unit left for Iraq. He never saw her, but he heard her on the phone -- as recently as last Saturday.

He had just returned from the desert, where a bomb had blown the contents of a sewer pipe all over Joey and two other Marines. They stayed on the job three days before they could get back to base for a shower, said Jim Spence.

Funeral arrangements are pending, but one thing the family was sure of Friday: Joey Spence will be buried in Scotts Valley, and at his request the ashes of his beloved pit bull will be buried with him.

Joseph B. Spence

Born: June 18, 1980, Santa Cruz

Died: Jan. 26, 2005, Iraq

Survived by: Wife, Elisabeth; daughter, Providence; parents, Jim and Rebecca Spence; brothers, Tommy and Roger; grandparents, Beryl Bambauer and Therese and Harland Johnson; aunt and uncle, Robert and Betsy Bambauer; cousin, Nick Peterson.

Services: Pending

Just read today, of the 1400+ people we have lost over there, 169 were from CA. Not just stationed here, but grew up here before joining the service. That's more than 10% of the total. Seems taxes are not the only thing we give more of and get less back

Quoted: Just read today, of the 1400+ people we have lost over there, 169 were from CA. Not just stationed here, but grew up here before joining the service. That's more than 10% of the total. Seems taxes are not the only thing we give more of and get less back

Its pretty damn sad to see the pictures of these guys when I'm getting these storys.

Armondo Hernandez



California family mourns soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

HESPERIA, Calif. — Spc. Armando Hernandez often wrote to his family about the dangers he faced in Iraq.

On Sunday, the 22-year-old soldier was killed when a bomb went off near his guard post in Samarra.

Relatives said Hernandez would send e-mails every few days to his mother and sisters, describing Iraq as harsh and hot.

“He said it was dangerous where he was, that we would have never been able to believe what he has seen,” said his sister, Delia Nava.

Hernandez was assigned to a mortar platoon in the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division. He was to have been promoted to sergeant, which will be noted at his funeral, Nava said.

A candlelight service was planned Wednesday night at the city flag pole in Hesperia, a Mojave Desert town about 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles, where Hernandez grew up.

An only son, Hernandez helped care for his mother, Martha, and sisters Delia and Raquel, as well as his nieces Destiny and Divine.

“My mom said he was the best son that a mother could ever ask for,” Delia Nava said.

“He was basically like our only man, like the man of the family,” she said.

Hernandez graduated from Hesperia High School in 2000. He took a year off, worked in Ontario and enrolled at Victor Valley Community College but changed his mind and joined the Army in 2002.

He was sent to Germany and then to Iraq in February.

Family members sent him car magazines and were fixing up his 1993 Mazda MX6.

“I’m also very, very proud of my brother,” Delia Nava said. “He was a very good person.”


Died:
August 01, 2004  
 
 

Morgen Jacobs




Soldier from Santa Cruz dies in Iraq

Associated Press

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — A 20-year-old soldier from Santa Cruz prompted to join the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was killed last week in Iraq by an explosive device.

Spc. Morgen Jacobs died Oct. 7, one day after he was injured in Aaliyah when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol vehicle, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.

Jacobs joined the military after graduating Soquel High School in June 2002. He had been in Iraq since January.

“After 9/11, he decided he was joining the Army to serve and protect his country,” his father, Todd Jacobs, told the Santa Cruz County Sentinel. “He sat on the couch in our living room and told us that.”

Jacobs was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Schweinfurt, Germany.

“He died with his boots on,” Todd Jacobs said. “I want him to be remembered as the individual who was fighting for freedom.”

Jacobs was an active youth, enjoying softball, biking, golf and skimboarding.

“He was a very active little boy,” his father told the San Francisco Chronicle. “He was always building models ... building airplanes, building ships, playing with his Legos.”

Jacobs shared few details about his service in Iraq with his family, preferring to catch up on what was going on at home.

On a trip home this summer, Jacobs talked about his reasons for serving in Iraq, saying he wanted to make sure his sister would grow up in a safe world.

“He wasn’t political,” Todd Jacobs told the Chronicle. “I don’t even know if he knew who’s running for president right now. It was all about country and fighting for freedom. I believe that he died honorably, and that he was fighting for that cause. For freedom.”

Died:
October 07, 2004  
 
 

Charles R. Soltes




Calif. civil affairs officer killed in Iraq

Associated Press

IRVINE, Calif. — An officer with the Army Reserve’s 426th Civil Affairs Battalion died in Mosul, Iraq, when an explosive device struck his convoy as it returned from a local hospital, the Army said Monday.

Maj. Charles R. Soltes Jr., 36, of Irvine, Calif., and Lt. Col. Mark P. Phelan, 44, of Green Lane, Pa., died Oct. 13 in the blast, according to an Army statement. Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Soltes, a Garden Grove optometrist in his civilian life, was working as a preventive health specialist with the battalion’s public health team. He was deployed in August with the Upland, Calif.-based battalion.

Soltes joined the Army Reserve in 1990 and served on active duty as an optometrist from July 1994 to September 1999. During that time, he served in Houston, South Korea and West Point, N.Y.

He was later assigned to the 7214th Medical Support Unit in Garden Grove while in the Army Reserve.

Soltes, who was awarded the Purple Heart, is survived by his wife, Sally, two sons and his parents.

A woman who answered the phone at Soltes’ house referred calls to another family member, who did not immediately return calls Monday.


Died:
October 13, 2004  
 

Victor A. Gonzalez



California Marine killed in Iraq

Associated Press

WATSONVILLE, Calif. — A 19-year-old Marine from Watsonville was killed this week as a result of enemy action in Iraq’s Anbar province, the Marine Corps said Thursday.

Lance Cpl. Victor A. Gonzalez died Wednesday from injuries received in combat.

“I was so proud of him,” his mother, Amalia Gonzalez, told the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian. “He was so young to die.”

Gonzalez was a rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Gonzalez joined the Marine Corps on Oct. 27, 2003. His personal awards include the National Defense Service Medal. He was sent to Iraq on Sept. 2.

“I told him, ‘If this is what you want, I will support you. I just hope nothing happens,”’ his mother said. “And now it has.”

Gonzalez aspired to be a police officer. He had served as a cadet at the Watsonville Police Department for 3 1/2 years, riding with police officers and helping direct traffic.

“He was a stellar cadet that rose to the highest ranking,” Watsonville Police Capt. Manny Solano said. “He was a role model for all of the other cadets. This has completely devastated our department.”

Gonzalez, who was born in Salinas, graduated from Watsonville High School. He is survived by younger siblings Eden, 15, Oscar, 8, and Myrna, 4, and parents Serge and Amalia.

Gonzalez played soccer and ran cross country but his real focus was always on becoming a police officer.

“Ever since he was a kid, ever since he was a chiquillo, he wanted to be a police officer,” his father told the Santa Cruz County Sentinel. “And he always thought that joining the Marines would get him to where he wanted to be.”

David Waters




Auburn soldier killed by explosive in Baghdad

Associated Press

AUBURN, Calif. — David Waters was a troubled teen in this former Gold Rush town before he found some direction in life by enlisting in the military early last year.

The 19-year-old soldier was killed Thursday in Baghdad when an explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle, the Department of Defense said Saturday. Waters was assigned to the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, N.Y.

Waters last returned home in September last year to mourn the death of his mother, Susan Waters, whose body was found behind some bushes in downtown Auburn, about 30 miles northeast of Sacramento. Auburn police say her killer has not been found.

“It’s been so heartbreaking,” said Debbie Waters, of Visalia, whose husband is David Waters’ cousin, speaking to the Sacramento Bee. “David had been a troubled youngster in high school. I can recall at his mom’s funeral last year, David was in his uniform and said, ‘I know my mom would be so proud to see how I’ve turned out.”’

David Waters’ aunt, Patricia Work of West Sacramento, said 42-year-old Susan Waters and her son struggled.

“David was in and out of trouble — his background wasn’t the best,” Work said. “But then he joined the service, and oh, he was so handsome in that uniform and he was so proud to be in it.”

Waters attended E.V. Cain Middle School and Placer High School in Auburn before joining the Army. Auburn Police Officer Dan Coe was a school resource officer when Waters was in school.

“He seemed to have really squared himself away in the military,” Coe said. “He was trying to make something of himself.”


Died:
October 14, 2004  
 
 

Richard P Slocum




HONOLULU — A Kaneohe-based Marine has died in Iraq from injuries suffered in a non-combat related vehicle accident, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Lance Cpl. Richard P. Slocum, 19, of Saugus, Calif., died Oct. 24 after the crash near Abu Gharib, Iraq. The accident was under investigation, the Pentagon said in a brief statement.

Further details were unavailable.

Slocum was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay.

Gunnery Sgt. Claudia LaMantia, a base spokeswoman, said Slocum was assigned to Kaneohe in February and had no family in the islands.

About 900 members of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment from Kaneohe were mobilized in August for combat duty in Iraq. They left for the Middle East from Okinawa, Japan, where they had been since early July as part of a regularly scheduled six-month deployment.

Slocum is the first Hawaii-based Marine killed in either Iraq or Afghanistan since the start of the war in Iraq in March 2003. Slocum had no family in Hawaii, military officials said.

The Marine’s parents, Kay and Robert Slocum, were given few details on his death. They were told their son died when his Humvee overturned while he was maneuvering through barricades at a Marine base.

“He had a lot of friends. You wouldn’t believe all the friends who have been here today,” said his uncle, Keith Lair. “He liked to have fun; he was really popular.”

Slocum, who graduated in 2003 from Saugus High School, broke his foot during boot camp, which delayed his Marine graduation by a week.

He is survived by his parents; sister, Kathy and brother Robert Jr.

Billy Gomez



A soldier who died from injuries suffered last week in Afghanistan was identified by the Pentagon on Friday as a member of the 25th Infantry Division based at Schofield Barracks on Oahu.

Cpl. Billy Gomez, 25, of Perris, Calif., died Wednesday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where he was taken after his vehicle struck a homemade bomb Oct. 20 in Naka, Afghanistan, the Pentagon said in a brief news release.

Further details weren’t immediately available.

Gomez was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks, where he was assigned in July 2001. He was a member of the medical corps and enlisted in the Army in August 1997, the 25th Infantry Division said in a news release.


Died:
October 27, 2004  

Jeremy D Bow




Lemoore Marine among eight killed in Iraq attack

Associated Press

LEMOORE, Calif. — A 20-year-old Marine from Lemoore was among eight Hawaii-based Marines killed in Iraq in the deadliest attack against the U.S. military in six months.

Lance Cpl. Jeremy D. Bow died Saturday when a car bomb exploded next to a truck outside Fallujah in Iraq’s Anbar province, the Pentagon said Monday. The attack came as U.S. forces prepare for a major assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah ahead of Iraqi elections due by Jan. 31.

Bow belonged to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division of the Marine Expeditionary Force based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay. He is the first Kings County soldier, and the fifth from the San Joaquin Valley, to die in the Iraq war.

“Everyone is just in shock,” said family friend Shelly Fortner. “He was 20. Just a baby. Too young to die.”

After graduating from Lemoore High School in 2002, Bow joined the Marine Corps in August 2003. He attended the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton during February 2004, where he trained to become a machine gunner, according to the Marines.

“He was a great guy,” said Pvt. Jeremy Betteridgeid, a Marine who said he had attended Lemoore High with Bow. “I’m going to miss him.”


Died:
October 30, 2004  
 
 

Roberto Abad


Roberto Abad

22, of Los Angeles, Calif.; assigned to Battalion Landing Team 1/4 (1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Aug. 6 by enemy action in Najaf province, Iraq.

When Roberto Abad learned he would be deployed to Iraq for a second time, he decided it was time to father a child. "He wanted to have a child in case he never came back," said his father, Roberto Abad. "We're going to be able to have a memory of him now." Abad, 22, of Bell Gardens, Calif., died in combat Aug. 6 in Iraq's Najaf province. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Although proud of his service, Abad also looked ahead to life after the military and planned to become a firefighter, attend college and marry his girlfriend, his family said. The oldest of seven children, he joined the Marines just after high school and participated in the U.S. invasion of Iraq last year. He was deployed again earlier this year. "I looked up to him my whole life," said Abad's brother Diego, who joined the Marines in February. "He would tell me to never give up on anything you believe in." Abad is survived by his girlfriend, Tania Valazquez, who was expecting their child.

— Associated Press

Geoffrey Perez




Marine Corps Pfc. Geoffrey Perez

24, of Los Angeles; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Aug. 15 of injuries received from enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.





Growing up, Geoffrey Perez had a lot of dreams. One of them was seeing his name in lights. "He wanted to make movies and be like Jean-Claude Van Damme," said his mother, Blanca Riaheta de Perez. Another was becoming a soldier. The 24-year-old from Los Angeles died Aug. 15 of injuries suffered in action in Iraq's Anbar province. He was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. "He was so proud of the military. He was always singing the Marine Corps hymn," said his sister Lidia. She described her brother as a "party person," the kind of guy who could walk into a quiet room and instantly make it fun. "He left a lot of broken hearts," she said. Before he left, his sister gave Perez some advice: "Be careful. Keep your eyes open and watch your back." "I'll be back," he promised. "But he's not," Lidia Perez said. In addition to his parents, Geoffrey Perez is survived by a 19-month-old son, Jonathan Jesus Perez.

— Associated Press

Fernando B. Hannon



California Marine killed in Iraq

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — A Camp Pendleton Marine whose father’s service in the Vietnam War inspired him to join the military has been killed in Iraq.

Pfc. Fernando B. Hannon, 19, died Aug. 15 in an explosion in the country’s volatile Anbar province. Hannon, a rifleman deployed about two months in Iraq, had been assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Hannon had a younger brother and three older sisters and was described by his family as warm and affectionate.

“He just glowed,” his sister Sonya Hannon told the Los Angeles Times.

His fiance, Ruth Ponce, 21, remembered him as unassuming and earnest. She was so taken with him at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles that she asked him to the prom during their senior year.

“He would laugh with his whole spirit,” Ponce said. “I’m just glad we found each other.”

Hannon enlisted in the Marines while living in Riverside County’s Wildomar section before his family moved to Mojave.

His sister Sonya Hannon said that while he may have not decided yet on a career, he joined the military because he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, Spurgeon Hannon, a Vietnam veteran.

“He joined because of you, Dad,” Sonya Hannon told her father.

Died:
August 15, 2004  
 
 

Jose Gutierrez





By Martin Kasindorf
USA Today

LOS ANGELES — One of the first U.S. servicemen killed in combat in Iraq was not a citizen of the country for which he sacrificed his life.

Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, 22, a rifleman with the Marines, died in a firefight March 21 near Umm Qasr.

Born in Guatemala, Gutierrez held permanent U.S. resident status, which he obtained in 1999.

At 14, with his parents dead, Gutierrez followed the path of 700,000 of his countrymen to California. He made the 2,000-mile journey from his Guatemala City neighborhood without entry papers. He hopped 14 freight trains to get through Mexico. U.S. immigration authorities detained him.

Fernando Castillo, Guatemala’s consul general in Los Angeles, says the United States doesn’t deport Guatemalan minors who arrive without family. Gutierrez was made a ward of Los Angeles Juvenile Court. He was placed in a series of group homes and foster families. He learned English and finished high school.

When he reached 18, he got residency documents, Castillo said.

Marcelo Mosquera, a machinist from Ecuador, and his wife, Nora, were the last couple that sheltered the lanky teenager. They cared for two younger foster children, as well, at their home in suburban Lomita, said Hector Tobar, a family friend.

Neighbors told the Los Angeles Times that Gutierrez acted as the big brother, taking the younger kids to the nearby McDonald’s.

Tobar said Gutierrez talked of becoming an architect but put college plans on hold to join the Marine Corps a year ago. Jackie Baker, the Mosqueras’ adult daughter, told Spanish-language KVEA-TV here that Gutierrez “wanted to give the United States what the United States gave to him. He came with nothing. This country gave him everything.”

The U.S. Embassy notified Gutierrez’s older sister, his only surviving relative, of his death. He will be buried in Guatemala at her request, Castillo said.

_       The Associated Press contributed to this report

Thomas Mullen Adams




Navy Lt. Thomas Mullen Adams

27, of La Mesa, Calif.; assigned as an exchange officer with the British Royal Navy’s 849 Squadron; killed in a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter crash over the Persian Gulf.





From the time he was a boy, Thomas Mullen Adams wanted to know all he could about ships and planes.

“A look in his room at the models and posters was only part of the story,” said his uncle Richard Adams. “Even when he was in elementary school he could describe in remarkable detail the performance and history of each.”

Adams, a 1997 graduate of the Naval Academy, was passionate about soccer. In 2002, he volunteered to go with the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk to Japan, where he knew the World Cup finals would be played. “He’s the kind of kid that if you had a very special daughter, you would hope that she could snag him,” said his aunt Elizabeth Hansen.

— Associated Press

Michael E. Bitz




Marine Sgt. Michael E. Bitz

31, of Ventura, Calif.; assigned to 2nd Assault Amphibious Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed in action near Nasiriyah, Iraq.





Sgt. Michael E. Bitz, 31, died without ever having seen his youngest children, twins born one month ago after he was dispatched to the Persian Gulf.

Bitz was an adventurer who found his life’s path when he joined the Marines in 1995, his mother, Donna Bellman said. And according to his mother-in-law, reached at Bitz’s North Carolina home, the father of four was “a damn good dad.”

In addition to the twins, Bitz also had two sons, Christian, 7, and Joshua, 2.

Bitz and his wife, Janina, lived in Jacksonville, N.C., but he grew up in Ventura, Calif., and graduated from Hueneme High School in Oxnard in 1990.

He wasn’t involved in any clubs or teams but earned good grades, said Joel Lovstedt, Hueneme’s assistant principal. He was a “regular guy, and it looks like he was a good student,” he said.

After graduation, Bitz drifted from job to job, got married, had his son Christian and later divorced. His mother says she told him to consider the military in order to focus his life.

“The Marines did a wonderful thing for him,” Bitz’s mother said. “I don’t regret him joining. I regret that he was killed, but I don’t regret that he joined the military. That basically was the best thing for him to do.”

—       Associated Press