Posted on 11/12/2018 6:15:36 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT
On Sunday, Veterans Day, the Leon Valley community dedicated the Evers Road Bridge to Leon Valley native Lance Cpl. Stephen Perez.
Perez was killed on April 13, 2006 when his unit came under heavy fire while providing security for a construction site. The bridge, which is lined with posts containing etchings of the crests of each military branch, honors Stephen Perez's sacrifice and others who served.
Stephen Perez's mother, Diana Pena-Smith, said the bridge is an assurance that her son's sacrifice will never be forgotten.
(Excerpt) Read more at ksat.com ...
My sons unit at the time.
About 16 of the men attended this ceremony.
We lived in Leon Valley in the mid 1990. No bridge, just a low-water-crossing.
I hope everyone remembers the fallen heroes and those who still serve.
All gave some, some gave all.
Great honer, great story.
Headline stinks. He never lived to be a veteran.
Plus they call this Marine a soldier.
Semper Fi Lance Cpl. Stephen Perez
honer should be honor...cripes.
Two things. Poorly written article. Merged the Iraq operation with the building of the new bridge here.
We need to know more about this veteran and what his unit was doing (i.e. helping some kind of construction activity, possibly for the Iraqi people).
I would like to know the name of the unit involved. My son was one of the first American soldiers into Iraq. Attached to Kuwaiti engineers taking down Iraqi sandberms, filling in tank traps, land mine removal etc on March 22, 2003.
Then my son and his unit, the 299th (Army Reserve), MBR (Multiple Bridge Role) Company, Ft. Belvoir, Va., drove the 350 miles from Kuwait (Arefjan or Camp Liberty) to their operational area on the Euphrates River at the bridge at Hindaya, for their “ribbon bridge” construction operation under fire.
Then they split up, some going north for bridge replacement construction at Mosul, while others did ground patrol mopping up, check points, taking prisoners and seizing arms caches. Then drove north of Baghdad to Balad AF Base as their staging area for supply runs, etc.
The won a Presidential Unit Citation for their Euphrates operation in putting up the first Ribbon Bridge in combat.
The Army and Marine engineer units were fantastic in their work, usually under enemy first during the war, and then for their humanitarian efforts after the fighting stopped for a while.
A Hoorah to your son and his unit. Well done.
A few more details, I will add that it was BRAVO Company,1ST BATTALION, 1ST MARINES
Their base was at Karma, Named Outpost Martini (Lcpl Philip 8 April 2006,KIA).
Two Marines Killed, 22 Wounded; DoD Identifies Earlier Casualties
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 15, 2006 – Two Marines died and 22 were wounded due to enemy action while operating in Iraq’s Anbar province April 13, military officials reported, and the Defense Department has identified several other servicemembers who died earlier.
One Marine died at the scene of the Anbar province attack. Another died later at a medical facility in Taqqadum.
Dead are:
Cpl. Salem Bachar, 20, of Chula Vista, Calif. Bachar was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Lance Cpl. Stephen J. Perez, 22, of San Antonio. Perez was assigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Eight wounded Marines, all assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, were evacuated by air to a medical facility in Balad. Two were listed in critical condition. Six were listed in stable condition. Ten wounded Marines, all assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, were evacuated to a medical facility at Camp Fallujah. Four were being held for observation. Six were treated and returned to duty. Four other Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 received minor wounds.
http://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=15450
San Antonio Marine wanted to teach
SAN ANTONIO — Lance Cpl. Stephen Joseph Perez, a Marine from San Antonio who dreamed of getting his teacher certificate and working with children, has died in Iraq.
The Department of Defense said Saturday that Perez, 22, was one of two Marines who died Thursday in Anbar Province. The other was Cpl. Salem Bachar, 20, of Chula Vista, Calif.
Perez was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. Bachar was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.
Conrado Perez Jr., of Eagle Pass, said Marines told him shrapnel struck his son in the right temple. The shrapnel came from an explosion between Fallujah and Karma where there had been heavy fighting.
“They were engaged in battle almost daily,” his father said in a story in the San Antonio Express-News.
Perez received both the word of his son’s death and a letter from his son on the same day because of the lag time in the arrival of letters from Iraq.
In the letter, Perez told his father, “I can’t wait to taste your ribs again, Daddy.”
He also said that his company was having trouble with insurgents.
Perez grew up in San Antonio with his mother, Diana Marie Perez, and older brother, Kenneth Perez. He called Eagle Pass his second home, his father said.
“I never saw him angry,” he said. “His mother did a fantastic job of raising that boy.”
Perez was due to return home in August and planned to work toward a teaching certificate.
https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/marine-lance-cpl-stephen-j-perez/1691822
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