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

Bookmarked.

Jose Gutierrez

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030324&Category=APN&ArtNo=303240582&Ref=AR

Second American to die in Iraq risked life to come to the U.S.

The Associated Press

One of the first U.S. servicemen to die in Iraq had already risked his life for the American dream.

Like thousands of other Central American immigrants, Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez made the dangerous 2,000-mile journey from his native Guatemala, across Mexico and over the border into Southern California as a teenager.

Gutierrez was hit by enemy fire and died Friday in battle near the Southern Iraqi city of Umm al Qasr, while fighting with fellow Marines, a military spokesman said. He was the only one among them killed.

He is believed to be the second American to die in combat. Second Lt. Therrel S. Childers, 30, of Harrison County, Miss., was also killed in combat Friday.

Gutierrez was 16 when he came to Southern California, without family or friends. Longtime friend Hector E. Tobar told the Los Angeles Times that Gutierrez rode 14 trains to reach the border. Gutierrez was among the lucky ones. He found shelter with an older couple that took in immigrant children.

He dreamed of becoming an architect.

Marcelo Mosquera, a machinist from Ecuador, and his wife Nora Mosquera, a marketing representative from Costa Rica - who became surrogate parents to Gutierrez - told the Spanish-language station KVEA-TV in Los Angeles that Gutierrez "would go after whatever was put in front of him to reach is goal."

The Mosqueras' adult daughter, Jackie Baker, told KVEA-TV that Gutierrez "wanted to give the United States what the United States gave to him. He came with nothing. This country gave him everything."

Gutierrez was an older brother to the younger children taken in by the Mosqueras. Neighbors told the Times he often was seen playing with them and taking them to the nearby McDonald's restaurant.

He was "very helpful and very friendly...nice and courteous," said Dina Purdue, who lived near the Mosqueras' two-story home in Lomita, about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.

Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala notified Gutierrez' older sister Sunday night. The woman, whose name was not immediately released, lives in a poor section of Guatemala City and was listed as his only next-of-kin in military records, said Guatemalan Consul General Fernando Castillo of Los Angeles.

"She does not have a phone, so it is difficult to reach her," Castillo said. He said Gutierrez' sister hoped to bring her brother's body back to Guatemala.

But social worker Wendy Perlera, who worked with the Marine when he first came to the United States, said she wanted to bring Gutierrez body back to California and hoped to obtain visas for his sister and her husband to come to the United States.

Gutierrez became an infantry rifleman with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, according to Camp Pendleton officials in early September. They did not say when he was deployed to the gulf.

Another Californian, Navy Lt. Thomas Mullen Adams, 27, was killed Saturday when two Royal Navy Sea King helicopters collided over international waters.

Four other marines were killed during the crash of a CH-46 helicopter Friday.

On Sunday, newspapers, radio and TV stations throughout Guatemala City carried stories on Gutierrez. The American Embassy in Guatemala estimates that nearly 1,500 Guatemalans or Guatemalan Americans are in the U.S. military.

Many Guatemalans expressed sympathy for Gutierrez and others fighting in Iraq, but at the American Embassy on Avenida Reforma, activists had decked the trees and fences with white ribbons to symbolize peace.

Army Capt. Christopher Seifert

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/international/worldspecial/24VICT.html?ex=1049173200&en=753b391d2520d709&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

Deceased Army Captain Had Just Become Father
By ELISSA GOOTMAN

On Saturday, Christopher Seifert's family learned from television reports that a soldier had thrown grenades into tents at Camp Pennsylvania, home to soldiers from the First Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq. They waited for a reassuring e-mail message from Chris, an Army captain with the unit. Nothing arrived.

Yesterday morning, a dark car pulled in front of the Seifert house in Williams Township, Pa., a rural area near Easton, said a neighbor and family friend, Ann M. Keeney. It was an Army official, bearing the worst of news: Captain Seifert had been killed.

"You hope for the best when you know someone so well that goes into any type of combat," Ms. Keeney said. "But if something happens to him, you expect him to die in some type of battle. You don't expect a man from the unit to do something like this. I think that makes it so much harder. Not that it's not hard enough."

Christopher S. Seifert grew up in Williams Township as an only child. But that did not mean he was lonely.

There was his mother, Helen, a nurse, and his father and deer-hunting partner, Thomas, who worked at a nearby paper mill, Ms. Keeney said. And there were the family pets, among them two dogs, a goat named Jelly Bean and a handful of sheep.

"Their sheep were their pets," Ms. Keeney said. "Their sheep were not raised to go to slaughter."

At Wilson High School, Captain Seifert played in the band and was a member of the drama technical crew. After high school, he went to nearby Moravian College, which is where, Ms. Keeney said, he met Theresa Flowers. The couple married four years ago, in the Moravian chapel.

"His parents just absolutely loved her," Ms. Keeney said. "Since they only have one child, it's nice to get along very well with your daughter-in-law."

Captain Seifert started boot camp after graduating from college, Ms. Keeney said. He spent some time in Bosnia, she said, and after the wedding, the couple spent about two years in Germany.

When his parents visited, he took them to see a battlefield where one of his grandfathers, an Army veteran, had fought. On visits back to Williams Township, Captain Seifert would bring Ritter chocolates to his neighbors the Ritters.

More recently, Captain Seifert, 27, had been stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky., where he was assigned to the 101st Airborne. He and his wife had recently bought a house there, and about four months ago, they celebrated the arrival of their first child, Benjamin.

"He was absolutely adorable," Ms. Keeney said. "Chris was glowing."

As did some other spouses left behind, Mrs. Seifert went to visit relatives after her husband left for the Middle East. She visited her own family, in the Philadelphia area, first, and on Friday, Ms. Keeney said, she arrived at her in-laws' house. That evening, the family spoke with Captain Seifert by telephone.

"He didn't sound real depressed about being over there, which they were happy about," said Ms. Keeney, who had heard about the conversation from Helen Seifert. "He said things were going very well."

Sgt. Nicolas M. Hodson, 22, of Smithville, Mo., was killed in a vehicle accident in Iraq. Hodson was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The second Marine, Lance Cpl. Eric J. Orlowski, 26, of Buffalo, N.Y., was killed by an accidental discharge of a machine gun in the Arab country. Orlowski was assigned to the 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Army Reserve Specialist Brandon Tobler

http://www.komotv.com/stories/23841.htm

Portland Teen Soldier Killed In Iraq

March 24, 2003

By KOMO Staff & News Services

PORTLAND, ORE. - A 19-year-old Portland man was killed over the weekend when his Humvee crashed into another heavy vehicle during a sandstorm in the Persian Gulf.

Army Reserve Specialist Brandon Tobler was killed Saturday as his convoy made its way to Baghdad. He was assigned to the 671st Engineer Brigade in Portland.

Tobler's uncle, Scott Tom, says Tobler joined the Army Reserves to pay for college.

He says Tobler dreamed of returning home to go to college and perhaps become a policeman. He also was interested in attending art school.

Tobler graduated from Franklin High School in Portland. Tobler's uncle also says another female solider in the Humvee was critically injured in that accident.

Sgt. Nicolas Hodson

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-03-24-hodson-usat_x.htm

Sgt. Hodson was considering re-enlisting
By Debbie Howlett, USA TODAY

In the Marine Corps, Sgt. Nicolas Hodson finally found a place where he felt comfortable.

"The last time he was home, he said joining the Marines was the best thing he ever did," says Mara Edinger, a friend and high school classmate. "He really felt he belonged to something."

Hodson, 22, of Smithville, Mo., was killed in a vehicle accident in Iraq. The Defense Department released his name Monday but provided no other details about his death.

He was one of two Marines based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., who died in accidents who were identified Monday. Lance Cpl. Eric Orlowski, 26, of Buffalo, was killed when a machine gun accidentally discharged.

Hodson's four-year stint was due to end in June, and he was trying to decide whether to go college and study engineering or make a career with the Marines.

"He was leaning toward the Marines," says Michelle Smith, a friend near Kansas City, Mo.

Hodson was single but had two sons: Braden, 2, who lives with his mother in Kansas City, Mo., and Marius, 1, who lives with his mother in North Carolina.

He also has a twin sister, Nicole, also in Kansas City. His mother, Gloria Burton, died of cancer in October.

"He was a great person; there wasn't anybody who met him didn't like him," Smith said.

The primary draw to enlist was to finance a college education, says Wayne Kreuger, principal at Smithville High School, where Hodson graduated in 1999.

His passion was basketball and he was one of the better players on the varsity team.

"Nick was the kind of kid who gave what he did his all," Kreuger said. Since graduating, Hodson visited the school on a few occasions, sometimes in uniform. Said Kreuger, "He was proud to be a Marine."

Prayers for our fallen heroes and their families.

And a big salute to you for doing this thread.

Lance Cpl. Eric Orlowski

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--war-marinekilled0324mar24,0,2856187.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

Marine from Buffalo remembered as proud father

By CAROLYN THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer

March 24, 2003, 6:19 PM EST

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Lance Cpl. Eric Orlowski was a proud Marine, but above all he was a proud father, the mother of his young daughter said Monday.

"He was always there for his daughter, and he loved her more than anything," Nicole Kross said of her high school sweetheart.

Orlowski, 26, was killed Saturday in an accidental discharge of a .50-caliber machine gun in Iraq, military officials said.

A Marine reservist, he died on his first deployment.

It was something Kross, 24, herself an Air Force reservist, never worried about.

"He was way too strong. I thought he would have come home for sure," she said, tears welling as she spoke in the Buffalo home the two owned together.

Orlowski smiles out from family pictures, holding 3-year-old CamerynLee on his lap.

The couple had gone their separate ways but their daughter kept them close, Kross said. Orlowski, a reservist for about three years, sent her letters from overseas, the last saying he was headed for Iraq.

"I don't think he was scared," Kross said. "The thing he feared most was leaving his daughter."

He'd called his mother and stepfather and CamerynLee just 10 hours before his death, to let them know he was OK. He knew it was 4:30 a.m. Buffalo time, he said, but it was the only time he could get to a phone.

"He was in real high spirits," Kross said.

At his father's suburban Depew home, a Marine flag waved outside and a gold star, the symbol of a serviceman lost, hung on the door. Philip Orlowski declined to speak with reporters.

Orlowski was assigned to the 2nd Tank Battalion of the 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. About 3,500 Marines and sailors attached to the 2nd Marine Brigade departed for the Middle East in January.

On a tree outside Kross' home, neighbors draped red, white and blue bunting and a blue ribbon that said, "Remembering Our Hero."

The Buffalo Sabres planned a moment of silence before Monday's game for Orlowski, an avid sports fan who brought his daughter to games.

"Lance Corporal Orlowski's death brings our struggle in Operation Iraqi Freedom home for all of us," said U.S. Rep. Jack Quinn, R-N.Y.

Kross said she took her daughter to her own mother's grave to explain things.

"She knows my mom is up in heaven. I told her Grandma is watching over us," she said, "and now Daddy's watching over us too."

Thank you for this thread. I deeply appreciate having access to names so that I can ask in prayer for the comforting presence of the Lord to surround their loved ones.

Too bad that we can't detail Freepers who are local to the men to attend any funerals in the name of Free Republic as a gesture of respect, deep appreciation and reverence representative of our nation.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez

Prayer, Sorrow, and reverence Bump.

Sgt. Michael E. Bitz, 31, Ventura, Calif.

Lance Cpl. David K. Fribley, 26, Lee, Fla.

Cpl. Jose A. Garibay, 21, Orange, Calif.

Cpl. Jorge A. Gonzalez, 20, Los Angeles, Calif.

Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Jordan, 42, Brazoria, Texas.

2nd Lt. Frederick E. Pokorney Jr., 31, Nye, Nev.

Lance Cpl. Thomas J. Slocum, age unknown, Adams, Colo.

2nd Lt. Therrel S. Childers

Lance Cpl. Brian Rory Buesing, 20, Cedar Key, Fla.

Cpl. Randal Kent Rosacker, 21, San Diego, Calif.

Update: FoxNews: Fallen Heroes of Operation Iraqi Freedom

Lance Cpl. Eric J. Orlowski