Private First Class Francisco A. Martinez Flores, 21,Monrovia, Calif.
4-5-03
Pfc. Francisco A. Martinez Flores will receive his U.S. citizenship posthumously Monday.
Martinez would have taken an oath of allegiance next week to become a U.S. citizen.
Instead, his family will bury him Wednesday in his hometown of Monrovia, Calif.
Martinez, 21, died Tuesday, March 25, when a tank he was driving plunged into the Euphrates River in the middle of the night during a sandstorm.
Assigned to the 1 st Tank Battalion, 1 st Marine Division, the unit was conducting convoy operations.
The bodies of Martinez and three crew members were found March 28 inside the tank, upside down at the bottom of the river.
Martinezs unit was based at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Other Marines of the 1 st Division told USA Today that Martinez was a "damn good tank mechanic" and that he was the company cutup.
One soldier told the newspaper that Martinez rollerskated through the barracks wearing nothing but womens panties when the unit got orders to Kuwait this year.
"Francisco loved to laugh, he loved to make people laugh," his sister Nayeli Martinez said.
"I am really going to miss his jokes."
Martinez, the eldest of four children, graduated from Duarte High School in 2000 and joined the Marines.
His family came to California from Mexico City when he was 3 years old.
"Francisco loved being a Marine," family friend and neighbor Reyna Diaz said. "He was so proud to wear his uniform, so proud to defend his country."
Nayeli Martinez, 19, said her brother had a passion for cars. "He loved to work on cars," she said. "He and my dad could spend hours working on the 1954 Ford they have." His mother, Martha Martinez, told The Associated Press her only regret was not being able to say goodbye to him. He left for the Middle East while she was in Mexico for her fathers funeral. "We are going to miss Francisco," Nayeli Martinez said. "But I know he died defending a country he loved." The family is coping well, Diaz said. "Martha is a strong woman," Diaz said. "This community is really pulling together to help the Martinez family." Martinez is survived by his parents, two sisters and a brother.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Johnson Jr., 25, Little Rock, Ark
"Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Vann Johnson Jr., 25, loved helping people but questioned what the U.S. government is trying to accomplish in Iraq.
Johnson, a Navy medic serving with the 1 st Marine Division, had come to terms with his role by the time he was killed by shrapnel Tuesday while tending wounded soldiers in Iraq, his wife said.
"He was a very energetic person definitely a gogetter," said Cherice Johnson from San Diego, where her husband had been assigned to Navy Medical Center before being deployed.
"He was very likeable and welcoming to everyone," she said. "He accepted everyone as they were."
Johnson would have turned 26 today. He joined the Navy in September 1997 after graduating from the University of Central Arkansas.
Johnson loved animals, basketball, drawing and writing poetry, music and letters, Cherice Johnson said. He often preferred to express himself on paper and wrote about his mixed feelings about the war in letters to her.
"He liked helping people but questioned the bigger picture of this war," Cherice Johnson said.
Johnson was a strong believer in God and through prayer became convinced he was doing the right thing, she said.
His mother, Jana Norfleet, told The Associated Press her son wrote in a recent letter that "God had twisted a guardian angel around him."
The couple didnt have any children in their four years of marriage, a fact Cherice Johnson said she regrets.
"Its so difficult knowing that I dont have a piece of him here with me," she said. "
Staff Sergeant Donald C. May Jr., 31, Richmond, Va
4-4-03
Sgt. Donald C. May Jr. died Tuesday, March 25, near Nasiriyah, Iraq, when his Abrams tank ran off a bridge and fell into the Euphrates River. The other three crew members died.
It seemed only natural for May to join the Marine Corps after he graduated from Meadowbrook High School in Richmond: his parents, Donald Sr. and Brenda, had served in the Marines.
They met when they were stationed at Quantico Marine Corps Base, Va.
The senior May had been a tank commander and served in Vietnam, earning a Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts and the Navy Cross. He died in a boating accident in 1991.
Family friends in Chesterfield, the Richmond suburb where Mays mother lives, said May dreamed of becoming a Marine.
Police Sgt. Kevin Smith was the leader of Mays Law Enforcement Explorers.
May always had a military look about him, Smith said.
"When you put teenagers in uniforms, some of them look sloppy," he said. "He looked like he was poured into his uniform. He was born to wear one."
May served in the Persian Gulf War shortly after enlisting. He was a military policeman for four years, then served in the reserves for two years before re-enlisting to follow in his fathers footsteps as a tank commander.
He met his wife, Deborah, while stationed in North Carolina. They married two years ago.
May planned to adopt Deborahs 7-year-old daughter, Mariah.
May and his wife have a son, Jack, who just turned 2, and are expecting another son who will be named William.
Deborah May said family was very important to her husband.
"He was a good family man. He balanced his family life with his Marine Corps life well," she said. "His family was always his number one priority. . . . He was so focused on making every member of his family happy. He would do anything for his family. He loved life. He made life fun."
When he shipped out from Californias Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base in January, he called Brenda May and told her, "Mom, this is what Ive trained for all my life. This is what Im meant to do. Im ready."
Lance Cpl. Patrick T. O'Day, 20, Santa Rosa, Calif.
4-4-03
Lance Cpl. Patrick T. O'Day died in a tank accident in Iraq on Friday, March 25.
Three days later, his body was recovered from the Euphrates River. His tank went off of a bridge and landed upside-down in the water.
O'Day was born in Scotland in 1983, and his family moved to Santa Rosa, Calif. in 1987.
In October, he married his high-school sweetheart, Shauna Hill. They met while they both worked for J.C. Penney.
O'Day proposed after an overnight, eight-hour road trip to return him to his barracks in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
"We were just sitting in my car in the parking lot at his barracks at four o'clock in the morning," said Shauna ODay.
ODay presented her with a plastic ring from a vending machine. "He just asked me if I'd be his princess for life," she said.
Family members planned a reception for the couple when O'Day returned from Iraq, according to the Associated Press.
Shauna, 19, is expecting the couples child in September.
O'Day learned he was going to be a father about a week before he left for Kuwait. "The first thing he said was, We gotta get the medical stuff taken care of," his wife said.
Practical concerns aside, he was very excited about becoming a father. "I know he would have been a great daddy," she said.
O'Day learned to read by the time he was 3. He graduated from Santa Rosa High School in 2001 and joined the Marines shortly after that. "He liked the reputation (of the Marines) and he wanted to be a big, bad Marine," Shauna ODay said.
O'Day had a great sense of humor, and was gifted at making those around him laugh. His humor showed through in the way he talked about the war, referring to it as his Persian Excursion" or an "all-expense-paid trip to Kuwait," his wife said.
If their child is a boy, he will be named after his father.
Patrick O'Day was assigned to the 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his parents, Tim and Angela ODay, and three brothers.
Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, died Tuesday, March 25, from injuries he received after a grenade exploded in a command tent of the 101 st Airborne Division in Kuwait on March 22.
Stone, whom his father described as "real goal-oriented," served nearly 20 years in the Air Force before leaving to become a private military contractor and an Air National Guard member.
Stone never was deployed when he was on active duty. He received his orders in February to go to the Middle East, near his 40 th birthday.
"He was an ideal son," Dick Stone said.
He said his son was intense while growing up. He competed in tournaments after a teacher taught him to play chess.
Stone enlisted in the Air Force after graduating from Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, Ore. He earned an undergraduate degree in history and a masters degree in human relations at Oregon State University, his father said. He then received his Air Force commission.
In Kuwait, Stone was assigned to the 124 th Air Support Operations Squadron of the Idaho Air National Guard. He died at an Army field hospital in Kuwait.
Stones two sons, ages 7 and 11, live with his ex-wife in Boise, Idaho. He also is survived by his mother and several siblings.
Dick Stone last heard from his son in an e-mail message he received the day of the grenade attack. "He said that things were fine," Dick Stone said.
Major Kevin G. Nave, 36, White Lake Township, Mich.
4-2-03
Maj. Kevin G. Nave loved his family and he loved the Marines.
"He was Marine, Marine, Marine," Ellie Champeau, Naves former employer, said by telephone from Waterford, Mich.
"He was 100 percent Marine when he was (on duty) and 100 percent father and husband when he was with his family," she said. "He had two lives, and he did them both to the fullest.
Nave died Wednesday, March 26, in a nonhostile vehicle accident while serving in Iraq with the 3 rd Battalion, 5 th Marine Regiment, 1 st Marine Division.
The accident is under investigation, the Department of Defense said.
Nave was a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
He was from White Lake Township, Mich., about 20 miles north of Detroit, and was stationed at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif., where he lived with his wife, Carrie, and their son Anthony, 6, and daughter Maeve, 5.
Nave graduated in 1985 from Waterford Kettering High School, where he was on the football and wrestling teams. He attended the University of Michigan on a Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship and graduated in 1989 with a political science degree, family members told The Associated Press.
Nave worked for Champeau during high school and college breaks at Anthonys Pizza and Party Shoppe in Waterford.
Champeau recalled a time when her brother, a master chief petty officer in the Navy, walked into the shop in uniform while Nave was washing dishes.
Nave snapped to attention and saluted.
"I told him, Kevin, its just my brother," Champeau said. But Nave held his salute until it was returned.
"Hes just one top-class, allout, outgoing, nice guy," she said. "Its such a great loss."
Gunnery Sergeant Joseph Menusa, 33, San Jose, Calif.
4-3-03
Eddie Bernardo described his son-in-law as "a happy golucky guy who loved life and lived it to the fullest." Joseph Menusa, a combat engineer, was born in the Philippines and came to the United States at age 10. He grew up in San Jose, Calif., and graduated from Silver Creek High School. He died in combat Thursday, March 27.
As a teenager, Menusa considered a career in the Air Force until he saw women swarming around a Marine recruiter.
In nearly 14 years as a Marine, he was stationed in Japan, Cuba and Hawaii, and he served in the Persian Gulf War.
For the past three years, Menusa served as a recruiter in the Bay area, but he decided the long commute didnt leave him enough time with his family.
When his tour ended in December, he returned to his unit at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
His wife, Stacy, described her husband as fearless.
"He was a very, very proud Marine, and I know he would not have chosen to have it any other way," she told the Santa Maria Times.
She said her husband was an avid scuba diver with a great sense of humor.
Bernardo said it was wonderful to watch Menusa playing with his 3-year-old son, Joshua.
"They got along great," he said. "He was a kid himself at heart."
Marine Sgt. David Menusa, one of Menusas younger brothers, wants his brother to be granted posthumous U.S. citizenship.
"My brother, even though he wasnt a citizen, he fought for this country and for what he believed in," David Menusa told the Tracy Press.
Menusa is survived by his parents, Michael and Virginia Kenny; three brothers; his wife; and their son.
Private First Class Diego Fernando Rincon, 19, Conyers, Ga.
4-2-03
Pfc. Diego Fernando Rincon was motivated by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to become a soldier. With the thoughts of the attacks in New York and Washington still fresh in his mind, he began his Army career March 27, 2002.
A few days after his one-year anniversary, on the 10 th day of the war with Iraq, Rincon, along with three other soldiers, died in a suicide bombing at a checkpoint on a highway just north of Najaf.
Rincon and the three soldiers were assigned to the 2 nd Battalion, 7 th Infantry Regiment, 3 rd Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart, Ga., when they died Saturday, March 29.
He was a 2001 graduate of Salem High School in Conyers, Ga., was active in the school drama department and was a cheerleader.
"He always had a smile on his face and a song in his heart," said Principal Robert Cresswell.
Rincon knew his way around a gym as well and was a talented gymnast.
"He had a great sense of humor and was always joking," according to Aubrey Fordham, a co-worker and fellow high school classmate who works at Rockdale Gymnastics in Conyers, where Rincon taught gymnastics.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Rincon family moved to the United States from Colombia to escape the violence in that country.
A message posted on the newspapers Web site ajc. com written by Catherine Montemayor, who was dating Rincon, said:
"Hey Baby! I just wanted to let you know I love you and I miss you. Be strong over there because Im waiting for you to come back! I promise Ill be waiting as long as it takes.
"Everyone is waiting for you. I cant imagine what you are going through. You are so brave for fighting for your country. You really are my hero! Im really proud of you! Love Always."
Lance Corporal Jesus Alberto Suarez del Solar, 20, Escondido, Calif.
4-2-03
Jesus Suarez del Solar came to the United States from Mexico to become a Marine and gave his life for his adopted home when he died Thursday, March 27, in Iraq.
He was assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Fernando Suarez del Solar moved his family to Escondido from Tijuana six years ago so his son could fulfill a childhood dream of becoming a Marine.
"Ever since he was a kid, he was always into guns," his father said.
Principal Jan Boedeker of Valley High School in Escondido recalled Suarez del Solar, who graduated in 2001, as having a great sense of humor.
She also said he had a way of distinguishing himself as a leader someone other students looked up to, perhaps because of his unshakable focus on his lifelong goal of becoming a Marine.
Boedeker said a school training program requires all new students to produce a senior presentation about their chosen careers. Students must research what they need to do to reach their goals.
Suarez del Solar's presentation was about being an infantry sniper.
He joined the service right after graduation, but he frequently stopped by the school in his uniform to talk to the students about the Marine Corps and about how proud he was to be apart of it.
Now, former students are stopping by the school to talk about him.
Last week, his father sent an e-mail to his son, stationed in Iraq.
The e-mail letter was reproduced in the San Diego Union-Tribune. In it, he told his son to return to the family without honors or medals, but alive.
Suarez del Solar leaves behind a wife, Sayne, and a son, Erik, 16 months old, and other family members and friends.
Boedeker said she is distressed about his death because she knew him well.
Still, she wondered, "How many people get to die doing what they love? "
Robert M. Rodriguez died Thursday, March 27 when the tank he was riding in fell into the Euphrates River during combat operations near An Nasiriyah in southern Iraq. His remains were recovered March 30.
A graduate of John Adams High School in Ozone Park, N.Y., he was assigned to the 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, stationed at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
A tank ammo leader, Rodriguez joined the Marines at 17 after high school graduation. He was already serving in the Marines when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on close to his neighborhood of Maspeth.
One of his tattoos was of the fire fighters raising the flag at Ground Zero.
Rodriguez's other tattoos displayed his love for his heritage, his family and his military service. He had a tattoo of the Puerto Rican flag, a tattoo of an amaryllis flower above his heart - in honor of his mother, Amaryllis - and a tattoo of the raising of the American flag over Iwo Jima during World War II.
"He loved the Marines," his sister, Hyda Hernandez-Lopez told the Associated Press. "That's all he lived and breathed - the Marines. We were all so very proud of him. He was our hero."
Rodriguez was the youngest of five children and had 17 nephews and nieces. His family last saw him in June when he returned to New York for the Puerto Rican Day Parade, but he kept in close touch since his deployment, sending home six letters and packages with gifts.
The family received a package of gifts from Rodriguez last week that included rugs and animal figurines. His family was told of his death Monday.
Although he hoped to someday become a New York City policeman, Rodriguez planned to re-enlist next year, his sister said. He was committed to seeing the war on terrorism through to its end.
Rodriguez was one of the first soldiers to arrive for the war, as part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. His 70-ton tank, nicknamed "Hermes" drove off the side of an unfinished bridge.
Officials believe the tank's driver was shot and killed while crossing the bridge, causing it to go over the side and plunge 25 feet into the river below.
Sergeant Fernando Padilla-Ramirez, 26, San Luis, Ariz.
4-15-03
News of Sgt. Fernando Padilla-Ramirezs death hit the police department in San Luis, Ariz., hard.
Padilla-Ramirez joined the departments Explorer Club in 1991 and grew up around the officers, said Ray Navarro, the departments communications director. "He was such an important part of this town. Its still hard to believe hes gone," Navarro said.
Padilla-Ramirez was assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron-371 at Marine Corps Air Station in nearby Yuma, Ariz. He was conducting convoy operations March 28 near Nasiriyah, Iraq, when he disappeared and was listed as missing.
After the Pentagon announced Padilla-Ramirez was missing, San Luis officers fastened yellow ribbons to the grilles of their patrol cars.
Padilla-Ramirezs remains were identified April 10. Officers were at his familys home when Padilla-Ramirezs parents were told their son was killed .
Padilla-Ramirez was born in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico, across the border from San Luis, Ariz., where he grew up.
Padilla-Ramirez was a shy 12-year-old when he first visited the police station, where he asked officers about the Explorer Club, a group of teens who help officers with various duties, including traffic patrol, security and marching in local parades. Officers told Ramirez the minimum age to join the program was 14.
"So, when he turned 13, he came back and asked if he could join at least as an observer," Navarro said. "So they granted him that wish, and he did like it and as soon as he turned 14 he became an explorer. That showed his drive and determination at a very early age. . . . He was very responsible and disciplined and he rose through the ranks and eventually became the captain of the program."
About a year after Padilla-Ramirez graduated from high school, he joined the Marines. He served for four years, then signed up for another three.
While Padilla-Ramirez was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station, he also worked for the reserve police in San Luis and attended training classes at Arizona Western College.
San Luis Mayor Joe Harper asked that all flags in the town of about 20,000 residents be flown at half-staff in honor of Padilla-Ramirez. Officers also are working with a local bank to set up a college fund for Padilla-Ramirezs two sons a 4-year-old and an infant who was born five days before Padilla-Ramirez was sent to Iraq. He also is survived by his wife.
Sergeant Roderic Antoine Solomon, 32, Fayetteville, N.C.
4-3-03
The Army was in his blood. So it seemed right Roderic "Roddy" Solomon would follow his grandfathers, father and older brother into the Army.
His grandfathers fought in World War II, and a great-uncle was killed in Germany.
His father, Robert Solomon, served in Vietnam and is retired. His older brother, Arnold, retired from the Army.
The younger Solomons six-year military career included time in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
He left the Army in 1996 and worked as a sorter for the post office.
Life outside the service wasnt cutting it for him, so he re-enlisted in May. He decided the military would be his career, and he looked forward to opportunities in the medical and computer fields within the service.
He was promoted to sergeant Feb. 1, his father said.
Like his great-uncle before him, Solomon died in the line of duty.
He was among those killed Friday, March 28, when the Bradley Fighting Vehicle he and his unit were riding in rolled off a cliff near Baghdad.
At the time of his death, he was assigned to the 2 nd Battalion, 7 th Infantry Regiment, 3 rd Infantry Division, at Fort Stewart, Ga.
Although he liked playing football and wanted to join the team at Pine Forest Senior High School in Fayetteville, his hometown, his father wouldnt hear of it.
"I protected him. I wouldnt let him join the football team," he said.
Along with spending time with his children, daughter Asia, 8, and sons Taylyn, 7, and Kenyon, 3, the thing Solomon loved most was history.
He was interested in any kind of history, including military history. It had the power to animate him, to light up his eyes when he talked about it, his father said.
Its clear Solomon was a light in his familys life.
"He would joke and make us smile, keep us happy," his father said. "When we were down and out, he would lift our spirits."
Solomon is survived by his parents, Robert and Belinda Solomon; a brother, Arnold Solomon; a sister, Sonya Anderson; his former wife, Lisa Solomon; and his three children.
When Henry L. Brown called his mother March 29 from Iraq, she was thrilled to hear his "joyous voice" on the crackling connection.
He wanted to know if his soldier wife, Jodana, had arrived in Kuwait. She had. How were his friends? Everyone was fine.
"We talked about pleasant stuff," his mother, Rhonda James-Brown, said. "We always tried to dwell on positive things when we talked."
Brown died April 8 when an Iraqi missile hit an operations center in Baghdad. He was assigned to the headquarters company of the 2 nd Brigade Combat Team from Fort Stewart, Ga.
His body was returned Monday to Natchez, Miss. Services are planned for Friday.
His wife also has flown back to the southern Mississippi town of about 20,000 residents where Brown's large extended family is gathering this week.
The town where just last June 28 Jodana and Henry were married in a small, private ceremony. Where in October, Henry's grandmother was buried in the same cemetery where Henry will be laid to rest. The town he told his mother he would return to one day.
"He had mentioned a career in the Army," James-Brown said. "His goal was to be a sergeant - I guess so he could tell people what to do.
"One time he told me, 'When I retire I'm going to come home and sit on the porch.' "
As a youth, he taught Sunday school at Greater New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. He also sang in the junior choir.
Brown graduated in 1999 from Natchez High School, where he was a member of the Junior ROTC program. Joining the Army, his mother said, was a natural choice for a boy who had many relatives in the military, including his father and grandfather.
Right after basic training at Fort Sill, Okla., Brown was sent to Germany. He was a little uncertain about the overseas assignment at first, but grew to love Germany in his two years there, James-Brown said. He and his wife met in Germany.
Along with his mother and wife, Brown is survived by his father, L. Carter Brown, and numerous other relatives. He was preceded in death by a half-brother.
James Cawley knew a little bit about what his daughter and son were about to feel.
When the Marine staff sergeant was a boy of six, his own father had left to fight in Vietnam, and he'd missed him terribly.
Thirty-five years later, after Cawley himself became a father to Cecil, 8, and Keiko, 6, he realized how painful it was for a father, too.
"I have come to realize just how rough it must have been for Grandpa to be away from his children for a year," the 41-year-old Roy, Utah, native wrote in a letter to his children before he left for Kuwait.
Cawley's father came back.
Cawley will not.
The 2nd Battalion, 23rd Regiment Marine reservist died Saturday, March 29 in a fire fight in southern Iraq.
Cawley grew up in Roy, a quiet boy who loved playing with toy soldiers and hated vegetables, said sister, Kim Coons of Roy.
He became a movie buff who favored old movies like the "Ten Commandments" and "Ben Hur" and could readily quote from any of them.
Cawley spent 12 years in the Marines, including a stint in Okinawa, Japan, where he met his wife, Miyuki.
In 1997, he became a Salt Lake City police officer.
An excellent marksman, he joined the SWAT team. He also worked as a detective in the gang unit, said Det. Jay Rhodes of the Salt Lake City Police Department. "If there was a dangerous assignment, he was the first one to be there," he said."He wasn't afraid of danger."
But Cawley still longed to be a Marine. In 2001, he re-enlisted as a reservist.
"When America was attacked, I knew that I would eventually have to go, and I was filled with a deep sense of sadness," he wrote to his children.
Cawley used those last letters to recount the story of his life with his children.
"He talked about when they were born; he told stories about when they were hurt or special times they had," Coons said. "He called them his little treasures. He gave them advice for their lives."
Now, Coons - one of Cawley's six siblings in a large Mormon family - wonders whether her brother sensed he would not survive the war. "I have the feeling that he in a way knew," she said.
She did not. Like the rest of the family, she hoped for the best and now struggles with the shock and realization they won't see him again.
"My dad's a quiet man and keeps his feelings to himself," Coons said. "But I think he wonders how he survived three wars, and a week into the conflict, my brother had to give his life."
American flags in Howell, N.J., a community of 49,000 about 20 miles from the Jersey shore, are flying at half-mast this week.
The town is mourning the loss of Michael Curtin, said Howell Mayor Timothy Konopka.
Curtin died Saturday, March 29 at an Army checkpoint near Najaf, Iraq, when a suicide bomber detonated a taxi full of explosives.
The blast killed three other members of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division and was the first suicide attack since Operation Iraqi Freedom began March 19.
Curtin was assigned the 2-7th Infantry from Fort Stewart, Ga.
"Our family is deeply saddened and our hearts are heavy at this time," said Curtin's parents, Michael and Joan, in a prepared statement released through Fort Monmouth, N.J. "He was fighting for our freedom which we should never take for granted. He was a hero in our eyes. Our hearts and prayers go out to the other servicemen who were killed and their families."
The eldest of five children, Curtin is also survived by sisters Katie, Jennifer and Stephanie, a brother, Dan, and a niece, Kayla.
Curtin was close to his family and liked to read, Katie, 20, told the Associated Press. Even when friends called him asking him to go out, he usually just stayed home.
Stephanie, 12, recently wrote a poem about Curtin:
"My brother is the one who is kind and polite. He is the one who is willing to fight.
"My brother is strong and brave as could be. I know that he will always succeed.
"My brother is willing to risk his life, every hour, day and night.
"I want everyone to know how lucky I am to have such a brother, and such a great friend."
Curtin was a second-string receiver for Howell High School's football team and also played hockey.
He and longtime friend Christian Williams planned to join the Army together after graduating in 1998.
Williams became a fire inspector instead, but Curtin signed up to become an Army paratrooper in May 2001 and completed basic training at Fort Benning, Ga.
The two planned to room together when Curtin returned home.
"I can't believe this has happened," Williams told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "I'm really going to miss his friendship."
Pfc. Michael Russell Creighton Weldon, 20, Palm Bay, Fla.
4-4-03
Pfc. Michael Russell Creighton Weldon died Saturday, March 29, when a suicide bomber drove a taxi up to an Army checkpoint north of the Iraqi city of Najaf and detonated the vehicle after waving to soldiers for help.
Weldon was one of four victims of the suicide-bomber attack.
All four were assigned to the Army's Company A, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), based in Fort Stewart, Ga.
Weldon, son of retired Sgt. Major Jean Weldon, joined the Army a year ago.
His mother, who recently retired and lives in Palm Bay, Fla., told the Associated Press her son joined the military to follow in her footsteps.
"He chose infantry because he's a tough guy," Jean Watson said.
She described him as a muscular 5-foot, 10-inches, who looked like actor Nicolas Cage. He was physically fit and lifted weights regularly.
"He was quite a looker," Jean Weldon said.
Michael Weldon was engaged before leaving for Iraq in January, but his military duties prevented him from marrying fiancee Kerri.
When he called her from Iraq, Kerri would drive to Jean Weldon's house so he could talk to his mother and 15-year-old brother.
He also had a 23-year-old sister.
"My son was the strength of the household," Jean Weldon said. "After I got divorced, Michael was the man of the house."
Michael Weldon loved PlayStation video games and often played them with his brother on his frequent trips home from Fort Stewart. He also took special care of his truck.
"He would polish it all the time," Jean Weldon said. "He was fixing it up before they called him up."
Weldon told his family is most recent letter that he trying to "do the right thing" and be a good soldier.
"The last thing he wrote in the letter was 'I love you, Mom,'" Jean Weldon said.
Lance Corporal William W. White, 24, Brooklyn, N.Y.
4-3-03
William White died doing what he wanted to do with the rest of his life: serving others.
White joined the Marines in February 1999, entering through Parris Island, S.C., and specializing as a radio repairman.
He was promoted to lance corporal in July and was scheduled to be discharged in February 2004.
Whites relatives told the Associated Press he wanted to return to his Brooklyn, N.Y., home to join either the police force or fire department. He would have returned to begin his post-military life very near his 25 th birthday.
White was assigned to the 3 rd Amphibious Assault Battalion, part of the 1 st Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was at the wheel of a Humvee on Saturday, March 29, when his vehicle rolled into a canal and he drowned, according to a Marine spokesman in Washington, D.C.
White shared a Brooklyn house with his mother and his two brothers.
"Of all the thousands of soldiers in the world, why him? Why William? I just dont understand it," Melissa Fernandez, Whites aunt, told The Associated Press.
During his short Marine career, White earned the National Defense Service Medal, and two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, the Marine spokesman said.
Eugene Williams died Saturday, March 29, when a suicide bomber posing as a taxi driver blew up a car at an Army checkpoint north of Najaf in central Iraq. Williams was one of four U.S. soldiers killed in the blast. All four were assigned to the 3 rd Infantry Division, 1 st Brigade, at Fort Stewart, Ga.
Williams was from Highland, N.Y., a Hudson Valley town 70 miles south of Albany. His wife, Brandy, and daughter, Mya, 3, live in Waipahu, Hawaii. Brandy Williams is expecting a second child in June.
The couple married three years ago.
"When our children grow up, I will be sure to tell them how proud we all are of their daddy and that he may not be here with us but that he will always remain in our hearts," Brandy Williams said in a statement.
Williams, who graduated from Highland High School in 1996, also is survived by his parents, Ulysses and Betty Jean Williams; a sister; and two brothers.
His younger brother, Eric, 19, is in the Army and is serving in Iraq.
"We received a letter from Eugene on Saturday," said Lori Ackert, his sister. "He was very optimistic he said he couldnt wait to come home so he could cook us some good food."
The Highland Little League is leading a fund-raising drive to help the Williams family go to Hawaii, where the funeral will be held. Ulysses Williams serves the group as an umpire, and Betty Jean Williams works in the concession stand.
"Theres nothing that is going to replace their son," said Jody Pavero, owner of Pavero Cold Storage and Ulysses Williams employer. "Thats the highest price you can pay."
Betty Jean Williams said the family is waiting to hear whether Eric can attend the funeral. "Ive been waiting for him to call me," she said.
"I want the Lord to take care of my baby," Betty Jean Williams said. "Watch out for all the other young boys there."
Just last week, Michael Vernon Lalush e-mailed his family and told them he had found his calling in Iraq, helping fly wounded soldiers from the battlefield.
Days later, he was dead.
He died Sunday, March 30 when his Marine UH-1 Huey helicopter crashed when taking off on a support mission in southern Iraq. Two other Marines died in the crash.
Lalush was assigned to the Light Attack Helicopter Squadron deployed from Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Principal Allen Brenner of Lord Botetourt High School described Lalush as a great kid with great personality who was good with his hands. "Michael was very proud to become a Marine," he said.
Lalush pre-enlisted in the Marines his junior year at Lord Botetourt High School and reported a couple of weeks after graduation in 1997. He played football, baseball, golf and was an officer of VICA (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America).
Earlier this week, the high school, in a suburb of Roanoke, honored the former student with an assembly.
"He was a Marine, that was his job and he loved it," said Rebecca Lalush, his mother, of her only child.
Linda McMillan, 50, a family friend, said Lalush always was tinkering with lawn mowers and cars.
Brenner said Lalush took courses of wood working, small engine repair and welding.
He could hardly wait to send pictures to his family of his new job flying wounded soldiers to hospitals in Iraq. The pictures will be the last images his family will have of him.
In his final e-mail message to his family, Lalush said he was finally discovering his dream in Iraq. He told his mother that he was finally using his skills to help people.
"He said, 'Momma, this is what it's all about,'" McMillan said.
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