Names, Stories, and Pictures of the Fallen Heroes of Operation Iraqi Freedom

Army Pfc. Anthony Scott Miller

http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=977184

Jay High grad killed in combat

By Amy Dorsett
San Antonio Express-News

When 19-year-old Pfc. Anthony Scott Miller joined the Army last year, his mother moved to Georgia to be with him on his first assignment.

"He liked to have my mom along," said his older brother, Patrick Miller Jr., 25.

Tuesday, Miller's stunned family grappled with the news of his death, the first San Antonio casualty of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Miller was one of five service members killed by enemy fire Monday; two were Texans.

A native of San Antonio, Miller graduated from Jay High School in 2001.

Tuesday, the mood was somber at the family's West Side home. Only his older brother spoke to reporters.

In the living room, where pictures of the children through the year and family celebrations adorned the pink walls, war news could be heard droning in a back room of the house.

"It was an educational opportunity," Miller said, of his brother's decision to join the Army. "He saw an opportunity to better himself."

The bad news came Tuesday morning with a knock on the front door. Military officials said Anthony Miller had been killed in action in Iraq, the victim of "indirect enemy fire."

"Indirect means it goes up into the sky, arches and comes down," explained Maj. Ben Owens, a Defense Department spokesman. "It could be mortar or artillery."

Further details of the soldier's death were unavailable late Tuesday night, and defense officials couldn't say where he died.

Miller's family members gathered throughout the day to comfort each other, his brother said.

"The family got together and tried to support each other the best that we could," he said.

Anthony Miller's family last heard from him at Christmas, when he called from Kuwait. He was deployed there in October.

Since then, his family had been monitoring news coverage of the war, though they had no idea where he was.

"We were always worried," Patrick Miller said. "We didn't know exactly where he was. It kind of seemed as though we were in the dark. We were trying to keep up with the news — trying to get a glimpse of him."

He served in the Headquarters Company in the 3rd Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade, maintaining vehicles.

Patrick Miller described his brother as laid-back.

"He was a happy kid. If anyone was down, he'd try to cheer him up," Miller said. "He was very into drawing. He always had his earphones in his ears, listening to the latest rock."

While deployed overseas, Miller recalled, his brother had only one complaint.

"He did miss the Mexican food," he said.

Not knowing his location, his family hadn't been able to communicate with him, not even through letters.

"Ironically, we just got his mailing address a few days ago," Patrick Miller said.

In addition to his brother and mother, Maria Saldivar, Miller is survived by his father, Patrick Miller Sr.; and sister, Susan Saldaña, all of San Antonio.

As of late Tuesday, funeral arrangements were pending.

Army Private Gregory Huxley Jr.

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/5603493.htm

Letter reaches dad after son dies in Iraq
BY MICK WALSH
Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer

Gregory Huxley received a long-awaited letter from his soldier son Wednesday morning.

In the three months that Gregory Jr. had been stationed in the Persian Gulf, mail delivery had been sporadic at best.

This one was short and to the point. He told his dad that his unit, the 317th Engineer Battalion out of Fort Benning, was on the move.

"I took that to mean he was heading to Baghdad," said the elder Huxley from his home in Forestport, a community of 1,100 in upstate New York.

The phone went silent for several seconds, then Huxley's emotionally charged voice said: "Of all the days to get a letter from him..."

Pvt. Gregory Huxley, 19, the second born of Gregory and Mary Huxley's four children, was killed in action Sunday in Iraq, shot in the neck by a small arms weapon, said the Army notification officer to the Huxley home at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The letter had been mailed March 29.

"Pride in what Gregory was doing for his country is what's keeping us going," said Huxley, who works for the state of New York. "We're also blessed by having good friends. And Gregory had a lot of friends, too. You can imagine how busy our phone has been."

Young Gregory, in one of his last letters home, has asked his dad about the snow conditions in the Adirondacks, the mountain range near the family home.

"He got me interested in snow-boarding," said the elder Huxley. "I'm 43 and I'm hooked on snow-boarding thanks to my son. He was really good at it."

He was also good at football, a two-way player for Class B power Adirondack Central High School.

Football coach Mike Millich, contacted by a Utica, N.Y., newspaper, was at first shocked by Huxley's death.

But, he added, "It doesn't surprise me that he was up front. He was well-suited for the military. He didn't mind discipline. He followed orders. And he was proud. He was a proud young man."

Sometime after the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, as the U.S. began pursuing of Osama bin Laden, Gregory Huxley decided he wanted part of the hunt.

"Every male member of my family served in the military. Except for me," said the elder Huxley, who is legally blind. "Gregory wanted to do his part."

Basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., last summer was followed by his assignment to the 317th, a combat engineer unit. But almost before he could get settled in his barracks, he was granted emergency leave after his grandfather's death. He returned to Fort Benning only to get orders to what was then called Operation Enduring Freedom. He left Benning on Jan. 8.

Funeral services are pending. "His body hasn't even been returned yet," said Huxley. "I guess I'd better get to work on that."

Marine Cpl. Jesus Martin Antonio Medellin

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/5601427.htm

Honoring a fallen Marine
By Gustavo Reveles Acosta
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH - As darkness fell, four Marines stood stoically amid the mourners who filled the front yard and spilled into the street Wednesday night.

Candles flickered around them as more than 300 people gathered to honor Cpl. Jesus Martin "Marty" Antonio Medellin, a fallen Marine hailed as an American hero.

In the front yard of his northwest Fort Worth home, family members, friends and pastors remembered Medellin -- Fort Worth's first casualty of the war in Iraq -- as a man of faith living out a lifelong dream to serve his country.

Medellin, a member of the Marine 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion's 1st Marine Division, was killed Monday when an Iraqi artillery round struck his vehicle in central Iraq.

"From the moment he was born on Christmas Day 1981 until the day our Lord Jesus called him back, Marty was a great son," said his father, Freddy Medellin.

"I thank Jesus for giving me the chance to hold him as a baby, see him grow up and watch him serve his country."

The ceremony included the Marine honor guard and the Fort Worth Mounted Police with a riderless horse that was led past the house.

Attached to the house were signs offering support to the Medellin family and an American flag with Marty Medellin's picture pinned to it. Some people carried pictures of Medellin in his military uniform.

The Medellins, who wore yellow ribbons in support of U.S. troops, last saw him six months ago. He called home about a month ago to say he would be going to the Middle East.

A younger brother emotionally pledged to fix the truck he borrowed from Marty Medellin and wrecked.

"I didn't think I wouldn't see you again. I thought I would have your truck ready for you when you came," John Medellin said, looking at the sky.

"I'm sorry for what I did. I know he can hear me. I'm trying to raise money to get it fixed for him again."

Marty Medellin was a 2000 graduate of Boswell High School.

"He was right on target with everything. There was never a problem," David Moerbe, Medellin's former economics teacher, said in an interview earlier Wednesday.

"When I had a substitute, I always underlined the names of students the teacher could count on if anything happened. Marty's name was always underlined."

Terry Houston, the school principal, called for a moment of silence in memory of Medellin. The trophy case that until Tuesday had pictures of all Boswell graduates serving in the military was rearranged Wednesday morning to honor Medellin.

Earlier Wednesday, Freddy Medellin told The Associated Press that he hoped his brother, John P. Medellin, could be released early from state prison in time to attend Marty Medellin's funeral. John P. Medellin is scheduled to be released in July after serving a 12-year sentence for murder and drug possession.

Larry Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, said that an early release would be "almost impossible."

At least three other men with Texas ties have been killed in Iraq since Friday. Marine Pfc. Juan G. Garza Jr., formerly of San Benito, was killed by sniper fire. In San Antonio, relatives of Army Pfc. Anthony Scott Miller learned that the 19-year-old died Monday. And Army Capt. Tristan Aitken, a 1995 graduate of Texas Christian University, was killed Friday by a rocket-propelled grenade.

This Report Includes Material From the Associated Press.

Marine 1st Sgt. Edward Smith

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/041203_nw_oc_marine_memorial.html

Public Memorial Held for Slain Marine

ANAHEIM — A public memorial will be held Thursday in Anaheim for slain Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Edward Smith, a reserve Anaheim police officer who was mortally wounded April 4 in Iraq.

The 10 a.m. service at Vineyard Christian Fellowship, 5349 E. La Palma Ave., will be followed by a private military funeral at Camp Pendleton, according to Anaheim police, who helped organize the public memorial for family members, fellow officers, friend and local military personnel.

Smith, a 20-year Marine Corps veteran set to retire in August, had planned to become a full-time Anaheim officer.

"He had such a good heart," wife Sandy said, speaking at a Tuesday news conference at the Anaheim Police Department.

"He cared about other people. He would do anything to help somebody," she said, trailing off. "He was, he is, just the best man I've ever known."

Smith, who was with the 1st Marine Expedionary Force, 2nd Tank Battalion, Fox Company, leaves behind a daughter, Shelby, 8, and two sons, Ryan, 10, and Nathan, 12.

Smith, 39, a veteran of the 1991 war, was wounded in battle in central Iraq and died the next day in Doha, Qatar, according to the Department of Defense.

"He was the best dad you could ever have," son Ryan said earlier. "I'm going to miss him a lot."

His older brother Nathan was philosophical about the loss.

"Just because he died that doesn't mean what he stood for will, because I plan make that live through me and my brother and sister. I just want to let everybody know that he was really, really special," he said.

Smith, who shipped out from Camp Pendleton in February, had been working semi-regular patrol jobs with the Anaheim police. He was also a member of the department's SWAT team, an assignment that few reserve officers get.

He had written to his police colleagues, saying that he planned to carry his SWAT cap with him all the way to Baghdad.

Smith was hired a reserve officer in May 1999 after graduating from the Palomar Police Academy, where he received the "Top Cop" graduate award.

The Chicago native came to California when he joined the Marines after finishing high school.

A memorial fund was established in Smith's name at Harbor National Bank. Donations can be sent to the bank in care of the Sgt. Edward Smith Fund, 101 E. Lincoln Ave., Ste. 125, Anaheim, 92805.

Marine Pfc. Juan Guadalupe Garza Jr.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/sections/archive/topstoryjmp/4-10-03/News1.htm

San Benito native killed in Iraq

By PALLAVI AGARWAL
and VANESA SALINAS
Valley Morning Star

SAN BENITO, April 10, 2003 — Mary Ann Garza spent all of Sunday decorating her fence and patio with yellow ribbons and bows in support of her oldest son.

There had even been talk of a big party celebrating the return of Juan G. Garza Jr.

Three days later, the ribbons fluttered in the unseasonably cool wind as the Marine’s family stood stunned and bereaved on the front lawn of the home where the 20-year-old man grew up.

Garza, who served with the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, was killed Monday night by an enemy sniper’s bullet while on patrol at the airport in Baghdad.

"He was shot in the chest," his mother said. "He died instantly."

Garza was the third soldier this week from Texas to become a combat fatality in Iraq. The Texas Senate paid tribute to him Wednesday by observing a moment of silence.

Juvencio Castillo, Garza’s stepfather, lamented how the Marine better known as "Boy" never met his 1-year-old half-sister, Stephanie Rae Castillo.

As a child, Garza enjoyed sports. He was a track athlete and he loved watching war movies.

He had always wanted to be a soldier, said his father, Juan Guadalupe Garza.

"I am proud of him because if it wasn’t for the (Marines), I don’t know what would have happened," he said.

His father received the fateful news on Monday, hoping that it was a mistake, a lie or a bad dream.

"It’s a tremendous pain," he said. "I am still in shock."

Rodrigo and Carmen Garza, the man’s grandparents, recalled memories of their grandson who, at one point, lived with them and called them "Mama" and "Papa."

Carmen Garza wept and tightly held her grandson’s framed picture, a keepsake she will cherish in memory of "a hero that gave his life" for his country.

"This is the first pain (because of death) that I feel, besides my parents’ (death)," she said. "I wanted to leave before anyone else. I didn’t want to see a child or grandchild leave before me."

Carmen Garza said that her grandson was her bailador (dancer) during family gatherings. He was also the grandson who enjoyed eating her bean flour tortilla tacos.

She said all she wants is to see him one last time.

Who am I going to cook tacos for?" she asked.

Rodrigo Garza recalled how he and his grandson would wrestle.

"I was asleep and he would get me out of bed and we would play," he said.

After graduating from Summerfield High School in Temperance, Mich., where he had lived with his aunt and uncle, Garza enlisted in the Marines and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Last year, on the day after Christmas, he married his sweetheart, Casey, and was deployed to the Middle East the next day. His wife, who’s stationed with the Army in Washington, D.C., was the first family member notified of her husband’s death.

The last time Mary Ann Garza spoke with her son was over the phone on Thanksgiving.

Unable to say much on Wednesday, she asked other Marine moms to keep praying for their children to "bring the boys home."

"This one never made it," she sobbed, clutching a picture of her son in the military uniform he wore proudly.

Mary Ann Garza said she would ask her daughter-in-law to allow Garza to be buried in his hometown. But his uncle is requesting the soldier’s body be flown to Michigan.

If they do have to make the trip north, the family is asking the community for help to pay for traveling expenses. They hope his four siblings and two grandparents can make the trip.

The San Benito Chamber of Commerce has set up an account for the family at the First Community Bank, which has branches in San Benito, Harlingen and Los Fresnos. The account is in the name of Juan Garza Jr. and Memorial Fund.

The city of San Benito is also accepting donations for the family at San Benito City Hall.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Army Spc. George A. Mitchell

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7683014&BRD=2101&PAG=461&dept_id=392169&rfi=6

Soldier from Md. killed in Iraq

HAGERSTOWN (AP) - Half an hour before an enemy rocket fatally wounded Spc. George A. Mitchell in Iraq, he was on the phone to his wife in West Virginia, laying out his plans for the future.

"He was talking about his plans, wanted to be a police officer in Mineral County, in West Virginia," said Brenda Sue Mitchell, his widow. "He jokingly asked me if I could put up with him in the police force and I joked back that I'd put up with him in the Army."

Mitchell, 35, served six years in the Army after graduating from high school in Pennsylvania, then went into the reserves.

"But he really missed it, he really loved the Army life, the camaraderie," said Mrs. Mitchell, 43, of Antioch, W.Va. After discussing it with his wife, who had just given birth to their second child, a son, Mitchell re-enlisted shortly before Sept. 11, 2001. At the time, the family was living in Rawlings.

"He did some security details at BWI Airport before he went off to Iraq," Mrs. Mitchell said. "Since he fought in Desert Storm, he really wanted to go back. He said they should have taken care of the problem 12 years ago and that they were all itching to do it back then."

Mitchell was with his 3rd Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade Combat Team - based at Fort Stewart, Ga. - when the missile struck near his tent. He died later in the day, according to the Department of Defense. Another soldier and two journalists were also killed.

Mrs. Mitchell said she did not know when to expect his body, as the Army told her Wednesday it would need to identify the remains using DNA. Mitchell was born in Pennsylvania, but his widow said he would be buried near their home in West Virginia.

Mitchell wrote his wife letters in which he tried to prepare her for the possibility he would die.

"If my fate is not to come back, I want you go on with your life," he wrote in a letter last fall. "Raise our children the way you see fit. Here are papers to take care of my belongings.

"I am now in my mode of focusing on what is to be my fate as a soldier. I am more ready than ever knowing that you are there and the children, they are what is going to pull me through.

In his last letter to his wife, Mitchell wrote: "I will defend all in body and spirit."

The two met in Lebanon, Pa., at a Wal-Mart where she was working. They moved in together two weeks later.

"It may sound corny, but it was love at first sight," she said. The couple married on Dec. 20, 2000.

Mrs. Mitchell said her husband believed that ridding the world of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, whom Mitchell called "a monster," would make the world safer for his children.

Mitchell is survived by his wife and their two children, Bailee, 3, and Joshua, 2, as well as a 10-year-old son, Christopher Mitchell of Lebanon, Pa., from a previous relationship.

"As he got older, he really started to think about the future, about his kids, and that's why he was doing it. That and his respect and admiration for President Bush," Mrs. Mitchell said. "He was a wonderful husband, but he was a fantastic father."

Associated Press Writer Jay Newton-Small in Baltimore contributed to this story.

Army Cpl. Henry L. Brown

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/5589370.htm

Natchez native becomes third Mississippian to be killed in Iraq
Associated Press

NATCHEZ, Miss. - Natchez native Cpl. Henry L. Brown became the third soldier with Mississippi ties to be killed in Iraq, according to family members.

Brown, 22, was part of the Army's 2nd Brigade Command Group. Family members said he died early Tuesday.

His mother, Rhonda James-Brown, said military officials came to her home in Natchez late Tuesday morning with the news. She said the officials were not able to give her an immediate cause of death. They told her that details would be available later.

"God gave him to me," James-Brown said. "He lent him to me, and at 2:10 this morning, God decided to collect His child. He's in heaven with the Lord now. And who am I to question God's will?"

Army Spc. JoDona Brown, Brown's wife of less than a year, is also stationed in the Middle East. She is now making her way back home, James-Brown said.

On Tuesday afternoon, friends and co-workers filled James-Brown's home to offer support.

"Next to my mother, he was my best friend," said James-Brown, whose mother died six months ago. "Now he's in heaven with her and they're both watching over me."

Brown graduated from Natchez High School, where he was a member of the JROTC. He taught Sunday school to children between the ages of 7 and 14 at Greater New Bethel Missionary Church.

"You could come to him and talk to him about anything," said Natchez High senior Jonathan Baldwin.

Frank Woods Jr., one of Brown's best friends, described Brown as a person of deep faith.

"He was a family-oriented person, a person of religious background, someone you could always depend on. If he had it, it was yours," Woods said.

Tracy Bell remembered growing up with Brown as a childhood playmate and as a classmate.

"He was always quiet in school, but he would always crack me up with his jokes," Bell said.

Spc. Larry K. Brown of Jackson was killed last week in fighting in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense said Tuesday. Therrel Shane Childers, who attended high school in Mississippi, last month became one of the first casualties of the war in Iraq.

Army Private Kelley Prewitt

http://www.nbc13.com/news/2103500/detail.html

Birmingham Native Is Third War Casualty From Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- In his last letter home, Army private Kelley Prewitt told his dad he wished he was back in Alabama, and that it wouldn't be long before he'd be calling for a ride home from the Birmingham airport.

"He said he'd be calling me soon from the airport to please pick him up and please bring him his car," Steve Prewitt, Kelley's father, said in a telephone interview Thursday.

Kelley S. Prewitt, 24, who attended Erwin High School in Birmingham, was killed in action Sunday in Iraq by enemy fire. He was the third casualty from Alabama in the war in Iraq, Pentagon officials said.

Prewitt enlisted about two years ago and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga. He was deployed in January.

"His goal was actually helicopters but he ended up training on tanks," his father said.

Steve Prewitt, who lives in suburban Birmingham, said military officials informed him Wednesday his son died when the supply convoy in which is fuel truck was traveling was ambushed. Another soldier died and several were injured.

"I just know that Kelley would really hope -- and I do, too -- that in the future, history will tell us that his death and the death of all these other soldiers is not in vain," he said.

"The Iraqi people ... will understand that our way of life and law and order and freedom is the way to live on this earth."

Paul Prewitt, Kelley's uncle, remembered his nephew as "a regular teenager" who worked at his father's battery store during and after high school.

Steve Prewitt said his son liked to ride his Sea-Doo personal watercraft on Lake Logan Martin where they owned a mobile home. "He loved the lake and he loved the outdoors," he said.

Jeff Estes taught Alabama History and World Geography to Prewitt and was his soccer coach for a year. Prewitt attended Erwin from 7th through 10th grades and then transferred to a now-defunct private Christian school.

Estes said Prewitt would often wisecrack on the soccer field, provoking laughter from his coach and fellow players: "He was just a good kid," he said.

No funeral services were planned for Kelley Prewitt, whose body was not expected to be returned to Birmingham for about two weeks, his father said.

Army Staff Sgt. Robert Anthony Stever

http://www.democratherald.com/articles/2003/04/10/news/oregon/state03.txt

Pendleton soldier killed in Iraq ambush

PENDLETON (AP) - The grandparents of a Pendleton tank mechanic killed in action just missed their grandson's last phone call home.

Army Staff Sgt. Robert Anthony Stever, 36, called Ray and Betty Stever about a week ago and left a message on their answering machine. He was using the phone of NBC reporter David Bloom, who was traveling with Stever's unit in the 3rd Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Ga.

"We missed his call by five minutes," said Betty Stever, 77. "He said everything was OK and he loved us."

Stever's death marks the sixth casualty with strong ties to Oregon since the war started March 20.

Ray Stever said he learned about the death at 4 a.m. Tuesday after speaking with the soldier's mother, who lives in Springfield, Mo. He said Stever died in an ambush, but did not have more details. The Department of Defense announced the death late Wednesday.

"All we've heard is that Tony and his unit went out to recover a tank Tuesday morning and they got ambushed," Stever's aunt, Elizabeth Spencer, told the Spring-field (Mo.) News-Leader. "We've heard they were hit by a rocket-propelled grenade."

Stever, known as Tony to family and friends, was a volunteer firefighter with the Pendleton Fire Department, following in the footsteps of his father, who also worked there. Stever, a 13-year Army veteran, graduated from Pendleton High School in 1985.

He leaves behind a wife, Cyndi, and a 10-year-old daughter. The family lived near Fort Stewart, where Stever was based. The couple celebrated their 10th anniversary March 6, with Stever giving his wife a phone call.

Family and friends remembered Stever as a protective and sensitive man who took time for those he cared about.

"He was always smiling," said Ray Stever. "He was friendly and willing to help his fellow man. I don't think he had hardly any enemies."

His half-sister, 23-year-old Paula Stever, said her brother was sometimes overly protective and tried to beat up her first boyfriend.

Stever's family watched Bloom's reports on NBC in hopes of catching a glimpse of their son, and spotted him in the background three or four times in recent weeks, according to a recent article in the East Oregonian.

"We live for those broadcasts. If I'm not going to be home, I videotape them," his wife told the paper. "Then I know he's O.K. I `know he'll be home soon, and we'll be right here waiting for him."

Stever shared a tent with Bloom for a few days and Bloom also rode in the same vehicle with Stever, the family said. Bloom died April 6 from an apparent blood clot while covering the war south of Baghdad.

Stever left Pendleton in 1993, but still considered it his home, Cyndi Stever told the Pendleton paper.

Stever completed two tours in Bosnia and one in Macedonia, but this was his first time in combat, she said.

Pendleton Mayor Robert Ramig on Wednesday ordered flags in Pendleton to be flown at half-staff until Friday in Stever's honor.

Army Pfc. Jason Meyer

http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=6990

Michigan soldier from Fort Stewart latest to die in Iraq war

The Associated Press -

A mid-Michigan soldier, who had celebrated his first wedding anniversary just two weeks ago, was killed in Iraq when his personnel carrier took fire, his mother-in-law said Wednesday.

The family of Jason Meyer, 23, was notified of his death on Tuesday. Meyer was based in Fort Stewart, Ga., where he lived with his wife Melissa, 20.

He died doing what he wanted to do. He felt very strongly about the service, said Meyers mother-in-law, Connie Arnould, of Swartz Creek.

Arnould said Meyer married her daughter on March 30, 2002, but the couple had known each other for several years through a Masonic youth group. She said Meyer also lived with her family for a time before the marriage.

Meyer graduated from Howell High School in 1999 and joined the Army in 2001. He and his wife moved to Georgia shortly after the wedding, Arnould said.

Arnoulds brother, Steven Cousino, described him as an always happy-go-lucky, smiley kind of guy.

He was a great kid, Cousino said.

Meyer was a mason, and built decks for family members, Arnould said. He loved the outdoors, including hunting, and the family often went on motorcycle trips, she said.

He also dedicated himself to military service.

Arnould said Meyer hurt his knee before he was sent to Iraq but didnt want that to prevent him from fighting.

He was going to do what he was meant to do, Arnould said by phone from Georgia, where she was going to be with her daughter.

She said she was unsure where Arnould died, but believed he was near Baghdad airport. Details from the military werent available Tuesday afternoon.

Marine Sgt. Fernando Padilla-Ramirez

http://yumasun.com/artman/publish/articles/story_4901.shtml

San Luis Marine killed in combat

BY LOUIE VILLALOBOS, Staff Writer

One day before his picture was to be put on a wall featuring locals serving in the U.S. military, the parents of Marine Sgt. Fernando Padilla-Ramirez of San Luis, Ariz., were told their son was killed in Iraq.

San Luis Police Department officers said they were at thefamily's home Thursday when Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma notified the family of the death.

"This is a very sad thing," said Luis Marquez, of the San Luis Police Department.

The notification comes more than a week after Ramirez, 25, was listed as missing March 29. Officials said Ramirez had been conducting convoy operations in the vicinity of Nasiriyah, Iraq, at the time of his disappearance. A few days later, a search and rescue operation ensued.

He was assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron-371, which provides ground support for Marine aviation squadrons. More than 200 Yuma-based Marines belonging to the squadron deployed to the region the week of Feb. 15.

Since officially listing him as missing, the U.S. Department of Defense has not updated Ramirez's status and no information on the circumstances surrounding his death was available as of Thursday evening.

Marquez said the news of Ramirez's death will undoubtedly bring a somber mood to today's ceremony where officers expect to display photos of the more than 50 San Luis citizens currently serving in the U.S. Military. It is not known how many of those are fighting in Iraq. The ceremony, scheduled for 6 p.m. outside of City Hall, was scheduled before the news of Ramirez's death came.

Marquez said officers are working with a local bank to establish a college fund for Ramirez's two young sons — one of whom was born just days before he left for the Gulf region. Ramirez also leaves behind a wife.

San Luis Police Sgt. Ernesto Lugo said the news hit the department especially hard because Ramirez, whose family moved to San Luis from Mexico more than 20 years ago, essentially grew up around the officers since joining the police department's Explorer Club in 1992.

Last year, in his spare time from his duties at MCAS, Ramirez decided to join the reserve police academy and attend training classes at Arizona Western College.

"It's not a good picture here right now," Lugo said. "Everyone is sad."

Mayor Joe Harper said he asked that all flags in San Luis be flown at half-staff in honor of Ramirez's death and said city officials and community members will rush to assist the family in any way they can.

"There's nothing you can do except to tell them everything is going to be OK," Harper said. "But their heart is broken and you have children who will not see their dad again."

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