Tristan Aitken was military all the way: ROTC-science scholar at Texas Christian University, 1 st team rifle, first in NCAA and state air rifle competitions. Chosen for Pattons Elite Unit at Fort Hood, Texas. Hand-picked for active-duty assignment in Korea. Leader in Iraq of the 217-member 1 st Battalion, 41 st Field Artillery, 3 rd Infantry Division, at Fort Stewart, Ga.
His mother, Ruth Aitken, however, is adamantly and vocally anti-war. "You will see me at peace rallies. I am only too happy to be a face for what needs to be done."
Aitken and his mother talked recently.
"I told him, youre not invading the Iraqi people, youre invading their country. But this is your job. You serve the president."
At the same time, she was signing petitions against a pre-emptive U.S. strike against Iraq. Her son understood.
Aitken died Saturday, April 5, when his soldiers were ambushed near Baghdad International Airport. A rocket-propelled grenade hit his lead convoy vehicle.
Although differing politically, the family living four blocks from the Penn State campus shared an active life. They traveled extensively on the soap-box derby circuit with the competitive Aitken and his sister, Terryl, vying to bring home awards. Their father, Ron, is a criminal justice planner for Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office.
Aitken became an Eagle Scout with 41 merit badges and eight skill awards.
An early trait of Aitken was protecting others. "He was taller than his classmates and he felt he needed to protect classmates when they were picked on," his mother said.
This super-achiever who overcame a reading disability in elementary school excelled in soccer, basketball and the discus, was an outstanding art student, a science fair winner and yearbook manager. He declined a Congressional nomination to a military academy.
So many skills and accomplishments, but what would his mother want people to remember about her son?
"That he was probably the most caring, honest person on the planet," she said. He was also a devout Christian who shared his faith with his troops. In December 2001, he married his wife, Margo, in Georgia.
Stevon Booker always wanted to be a soldier. After graduating in 1988 from Apollo-Ridge High School, Booker joined the Army and served during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. His military career ended Saturday, April 5, when he died during a raid on Baghdad.
He served as a tank commander with A Company, 1 st Battalion, 64 th Armor Regiment, based at Fort Stewart, Ga. He named his tank Another Episode, alluding to his service during the first Gulf War, and wanted to help liberate Iraq.
"If it wasnt for the war, hed have been home by now," said his mother, Freddie Jackson. "But its what he wanted to do. He always told me, Mom, dont worry about me. We are the bestequipped military in the world, and Im going to be fine."
To his family, Booker was a caring man who loved to work out and stay fit.
To his sister, Kimberly Booker, 32, he was a role model for her 10-year-old son, Alexander.
"He was a very stern but loving man," she said. "He always tried to show my son what it was to be a man and not cry thats the Army way. But he also called me all the time from wherever he was."
When Iraqis in Baghdad began celebrating the fall of the capital, Jackson felt some satisfaction for the sacrifice her son made.
"This is why he went," she said as television images showed jubilant Iraqis stomping a toppled statue of President Saddam Hussein. "If these people are going to be free, then my son died for a good cause."
In addition to his mother and sister, he is survived by his father, George; a nephew; and extended family.
Larry Brown wasnt an academic star at Bailey Magnet High School in Jackson, Miss., where he played basketball and ran track. But a former English teacher recalls he had a particular fascination for the 12 th century epic Beowulf, in which an intrepid warrior travels to far shores to rescue a kingdom that a monster is terrorizing. Brown might have recognized the parallels when he was sent to Iraq, a member of the 1 st Battalion, 3 rd Brigade, 1 st Armored Division, based at Fort Riley, Kan.
But his own overseas rescue mission ended tragically Saturday, April 5, when hostile fire killed him.
He is remembered as a somewhat serious, soft-spoken, caring and dependable young man, who was a good friend and made up for whatever he lacked in natural gifts through hard work and perseverance.
"Hes a good kid. Hes a good man," his father, Larry Brown, told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.
Immediately after graduating high school but before joining the Army, Brown worked for the United Parcel Service and attended community college in Jackson.
"He just felt like he wanted to be doing more," said his mother, Rosemary Brown.
"He was doing what he wanted to do. We were all proud."
One former high school teacher and track coach, Charles Rosser, recalled Brown as a young man who "cared for other people more than himself" and was doing something worthwhile with his life.
"Considering a lot of people die for nothing, for a few dollars, at least he died for something he believed in," Rosser said.
"Thats something to be proud of."
In addition to his parents, he is survived by a sister, Lakeidra, and a brother, Nicholas.
Two careers one at its apex, the other just beginning ended April 5 when 1 st Sgt. Edward C. Smith died in Doha, Qatar, as a result of wounds received while fighting enemy forces April 4 in central Iraq as a member of the 2 nd Battalion, 5 th Marine Regiment, 1 st Marine Division, the U.S. Department of Defense said.
The son of a police lieutenant, Smith was born Nov. 2, 1964, in Chicago and grew up on the South Side.
He wanted to be a Marine since grammar school, said his father, Ronald Holliday.
Smith graduated from Cosmopolitan Preparatory School in 1982 and joined the Marines when he was 17.
During his military career, Smith served in the Persian Gulf War and overseas after the Sept. 11 attacks. He commanded more than 200 infantrymen in the 2 nd Tank Battalion, part of the 1 st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The Anaheim, Calif., Police Department hired Smith as a part-time reservist in 1999 after he graduated at the top of his class from Palomar Police Academy.
As a law enforcement officer, he was recognized as the departments Reserve Rookie of the Year in 2000 and was the Orange County Reserve Police Officer of the Year in 2001.
He usually worked weekends and was part of the Special Tactics Detail that was on guard as the Anaheim Angels played in the World Series.
After 20 years in the military, he had submitted his retirement application in January, just days before the Marine Corps took the unusual step of suspending all retirements for one year.
Smith planned to work full time with the Anaheim Police Department on his return from Iraq.
But he was "gung-ho" to go, his father told the Orange County Register. "He would have hated to leave his guys in anybody elses hands. It was something he felt like he had to do."
Just before he deployed, his police colleagues gave him a Special Tactics Detail cap and pin.
In a cardboard-box postcard, Smith told fellow officers he intended to wear his SWAT cap "all the way into Baghdad," Rick Martinez, a police spokesman, told the Orange County Register.
He never got the chance.
Edward "Smitty" Smith is survived by his wife, Sandy Smith; his 12-yearold son, Nathan; his 10-year-old son, Ryan; his 8-year-old daughter, Shelby; his parents, Ronald and Barbara Holliday; his sisters, Monique Hayes and Leona Davis; and many other family members, friends and colleagues who no doubt remember him as Martinez does, as "a kind and gentle man, a professional."
At a news conference April 9, Nathan Smith remembered his father as someone "really special," and Ryan Smith said his dad was always there when he needed help.
"It made me feel so good," he said. "He was the best dad you could ever have. I miss him a lot."
Private First Class Gregory P. Huxley Jr., 19, Forestport, N.Y.
4-13-03
After graduating in June and getting ready to "see the world," Gregory Huxley Jr. didnt get much time to see it.
He died Sunday, April 6, in Iraq after coming under enemy fire.
Huxley, based in Fort Benning, Ga., in the 3 rd Battalion, 17 th Engineers, came from Forestport, N.Y., 55 miles northeast of Syracuse, where his parents live.
He was on the Adirondack Central High School track team for a year, played football for three years and then decided to give it up to work at a restaurant. "He also loved to snowboard. If it werent for him, I wouldnt be able to do it (snowboard)." said his father, Gregory Huxley Sr. They did most of their snowboarding in Vermont, but they always had a goal to reach the Colorado mountains a goal his father will have to reach alone.
The elder Huxley said his son joined the military "to see the world" and to get engineering experience. He planned to go to college and use his military experience to become a carpenter. "He was always a happy kid, and he was great with children." his father said. Although Gregory Huxley Sr. lost someone he loves, he still supports the war and said it is far from being over. "Id just ask for continued support for people still over there, and I urge total support for Bush."
Pvt. Kelley S. Prewitt, 24, joined the service to find a career he liked.
"He just wanted to find out what he wanted to do with his life," his aunt, Corinne Prewitt, said.
Prewitt and his convoy were ambushed April 6 south of Baghdad, and he died shortly after shrapnel hit his leg. One other soldier died in the incident; several were wounded. The Center Point, Ala., native was a tank crew member with the Headquarters Company, 2 nd Battalion of the Armys 69 th Armor Regiment out of Fort Benning, Ga.
Prewitt enjoyed sports and played soccer intensely. He loved fishing and Jet Skiing on a lake near where his father lived. "He was a typical teenager," his aunt said. "He was a real nice guy."
Prewitt enlisted in May 2002. He was deployed to Iraq in January. Once the war broke out, Prewitt wrote home to his father and expressed some concerns. "He said he was anxious to come home and see his friends," she said.
Prewitt is survived by his father and mother, Steve and Jean, and two sisters, Ashley Prewitt and Jamie Smith.
Andrew Aviles put off accepting a scholarship to Florida State University because he felt he had a moral responsibility to serve his country.
Aviles, who was a member of the 4th Marine Amphibious Assault Battalion, was killed Monday, April 7, when an enemy artillery shell hit his amphibious assault vehicle while crossing a bridge in central Iraq. He was sent to the Middle East on Feb. 6. Aviles graduated from T.R. Robinson High School in Tampa in 2002. He was the senior class president, a cheerleader and a member of the wrestling and football teams. He was a member of the National Honor society, and he graduated third in his class.
At his graduation, besides leading the Pledge of Allegiance, he asked that graduates entering the military be given special recognition.
He was awarded a full scholarship to FSU. He planned to study business.
"He was a born leader, mature beyond his years, smart and articulate," said his sister, Kristine Aviles.
Students at Robinson High School learned of Aviles death through an announcement from Principal Kevin McCarthy, who sent a letter home to parents.
Chief Warrant Officer Robert William Channell Jr., 36, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
4-28-03
Robert Channell died with two other Marines while they were familiarizing themselves with an Iraqi rocketpropelled grenade launcher.
The weapon malfunctioned, wounding seven others.
Channell was part of a transportation unit in charge of maintenance from the 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2 nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, from Camp Lejeune, N.C.
"He was a good son, a good father, a good husband and one heck of a Marine," said Mark Sutton, his father-in-law.
Channell and his wife, Joyce, a paralegal and social worker, have a daughter, Bethany, 4.
"Wheres my little boothead," hed call to her when hed come home, his sister Tammy Woolbright said. Hed kid her about carrying her own weight from the time she was three, asking her if she had a J.O.B. "No sir, I have no J.O.B., sir," shed respond.
He wanted her to be the all-American girl, his sister said, and they were together as often as possible, from riding on the lawn mower to trips into town. She will be 5 on May 23.
"He never met a stranger," his sister-in-law Denise Osborn said. "He touched people from here to Japan."
Channell was stationed in Japan on two tours of duty and enjoyed the people and environment. For his next tour, he was having a hard time deciding between Japan and Hawaii.
He was the drill instructor for his unit at Camp Lejeune and football coach for the recruits.
He was given a dog in Japan that he named Bama. He loved to watch the Crimson Tide football team, his sister said. She mailed him videotapes of games during the season.
According to The Associated Press, after retirement from the Marines, he dreamed of attending the University of Alabama to pursue a degree in business administration, with which he was going to start his own business.
"He just loved the people here. He was a good ol boy," Woolbright said.
In an e-mail he sent to his wife while on tour, he told her, "Always remember, Im standing up for what I believe in freedom."
As a child, he was burned when an aerosol can exploded in a fire. The disability didnt slow him down, Woolbright said.
To children who happened to stare, hed respond to them with, "How are you doing? "
Military jets often flew over track practice at Amarillo High School.
Eric Bruce Das, a pole vaulter, would glance at the sky, watch the planes zoom by and always ask the same question of his coach, Jim Langdon.
"Coach, what kind of plane is that? "
Langdon had no idea. He knew Das asked the question even though he knew the answer.
Das then told Langdon the name of the jet and said, "Coach, someday, I'll be flying one of those."
Das, a 1995 graduate of the Air Force Academy, was the pilot of an F-15E Strike Eagle that went down Monday, April 7, during a combat mission in Iraq.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Das was assigned to the 333 rd Fighter Squadron, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.
A military liaison officer broke the news of Das' death to his parents, Bruce and Rosie, at their home in Amarillo, Texas, the evening of April 17.
"Eric did not live his life in vain," Rosie Das told the Amarillo Globe-News. "His life probably impacted more people for eternity than we will ever, ever know this side of eternity."
Das had a deep, obvious faith in God, his friend Doug Jesko said.
"He prayed before all his meals," Jesko said. "You couldn't eat with Das without praying first."
Jesko knew Das for most of their lives. He saw Das during the Christmas holidays and spoke with his old friend on the telephone the night before Das was sent to the Persian Gulf region.
"He called me and said, 'Guess what? I'm going to war.' He was so excited to go over there," he said. "I told him it might be dangerous, and he said, 'I know.' "
Family members and friends gathered April 18 in Amarillo to comfort one another and remember Das.
Many tears were shed that night, Langdon remembered, but there also was joy while looking back on the life of an adventurous sort.
"We were laughing at times when we thought of him," Langdon said, thinking back to those afternoons spent watching jets fly over Amarillo High with Das.
"He was living his dream. He was really living his dream. Not everybody gets to do that."
Das is survived by his wife, 1 st Lt. Nicole Das, an Air Force intelligence officer. They were married Oct. 20, 2001. In addition to his parents, he is survived by his sisters, Melody Neumann and Elisa; and a brother-in-law, Stephen Neumann. The Amarillo Globe-News contributed to this report
Staff Sergeant Lincoln D. Hollinsaid, 27, Malden, Ill
4-13-03
Lincoln Hollinsaid was smart enough to teach himself to play the guitar, so it seemed a natural fit for him to become an engineer.
Hollinsaid, of the 11th Engineer Battalion at Fort Stewart, Ga., was a driver and mechanic of tracked vehicles when he was killed during a grenade attack Monday, April 7, in Iraq.
It was a job that "Linc" took seriously since he joined the Army in 1995, said his father, Dan Hollinsaid. "He was ready to serve. He set goals. He sounded to me like a person with a job at a corporation."
Hollinsaid found time for fun, too. He fished often and hunted, his father said, "whether it was for squirrels or rabbits." Or wild boars.
Hollinsaid earned the nickname "Jed" when he was stationed in Germany in 1997 because hed run through the fields with his rifle, like Jed in "The Beverly Hillbillies," as he tried to catch a wild boar.
He caught a small boar when he was stationed in Fort Stewart. Upon showing his parents a picture, his mother, Nancy, joked, "Well, you caught a baby pig."
Hollinsaid served in Bosnia during the late 1990s.
"He was rather quiet, polite, very much dedicated," said Bonnie Perkins, a family friend. "He was very patriotic very patriotic. He turned out to be a really nice young man."
In addition to his parents, He is survived by his brothers Adam, 30, and Kevin, 22.
A candlelight vigil Tuesday in Fort Worth, Texas, honored Jesus "Marty" Martin Antonio Medellin, the citys first fallen soldier in the war. People prayed outside the home of Medellin, who died Monday, April 7. An enemy artillery round hit the amphibious assault vehicle Medellin was riding in. He was assigned to the 3 rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1 st Marine Division, at Camp Pendleton, Calif. "This has hurt the whole city of young people, the whole city of parents," his aunt Simona Sifuentes said. The city has expressed its support through telephone calls and visits, she said. Medellin had his heart set on being a Marine since he was 10 or 11, she said. Soon after graduation from Boswell High School in 2000, he moved to San Diego and joined the Marines. In Texas, he was involved with the Open Door Baptist Church in north Fort Worth.
"He was a very strong Christian young man, very involved in the church. Thats where he spent most of his time," Sifuentes said.
Family was important to Medellin, who was the secondoldest of four sons.
"They are very broken," Sifuentes said of the Medellin family. "This is devastating for them, but they are also very proud of him."
David Moerbe, Medellins high school economics teacher, recalled his former student as quiet and hard working
Medellin visited the school last year to recruit students for the Marines.
Moerbe looked up from his class and saw Medellin standing in the doorway, dressed in his Marine blues.
"I said, I didnt know you wanted to be in the Marines, and he said hes always wanted to do this," Moerbe recalled.
Medellin wasnt involved in high school sports, Moerbe said. Instead, he worked after school to help his family.
"He was one of those kids who always had a smile on his face," Moerbe said. "Bless his heart. If he had to go, he wouldnt have it any other way."
Private First Class Jason M. Meyer, 23, Swartz Creek, Mich.
4-17-03
Jason M. Meyer was eager to serve his country.
Shortly before his January deployment, he sent relatives in Michigan a picture he drew.
"It was of his armored personnel carrier and on it says 'Get 'r dun' written on the side," said his wife's uncle, Steven Cousino of Flint, Mich.
Meyer was killed when the carrier took fire Monday, April 7, near Baghdad Airport. A Pentagon news release states the circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation.
"He went over there to free the people there," Cousino said. "He had something wrong with his knee that probably would have kept him from going there. But he hid it from them. He wanted to go."
Meyer was assigned to B Company, 11th Engineer Battalion, in Fort Stewart, Ga., where he lived with wife Melissa, 20.
The couple met through Howell (Mich.) Masonic Lodge 38 and married a year ago.
"He really made Melissa a happy woman. He was a good kid, smiley and positive. We all fell in love with him," Cousino said. "He's the kind of person, when you met him you, you kind of wanted to get to know him a little better."
The simple things in life made Meyer happy - things such as hockey, hunting and hamburgers.
"He always wanted to go to McDonald's," said Matt McClanahan, whose family met Meyer through the Masonic youth group nine years ago.
Meyer spent a lot of time at their house and went on family vacations with them, he said.
"I'm the father of four sons, and he was my fifth son," McClanahan said.
Meyer was a role model to McClanahan's sons and others.
"He was very competitive, yet he was a sportsman. He'd step aside to let someone lesser skilled play in his spot," he said.
After graduating from Howell High School in 1999, Meyer stayed at the Mc-Clanahan house "off and on, trying to figure out what direction he wanted. He was working doing some construction. He loved to work with his hands."
Meyer joined the Army in 2001.
"When he was deployed, he called and said, 'Don't worry, I'm going to be all right.' He was proud to be there," Cousino said.
He said the family was told Meyer will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Meyer is survived by his wife, Melissa; his mother and stepfather, Kathy and Chris Worthington; his brothers, Justin, Tyler and Chris; his sisters, Ashley and Amy; his father and stepmother, Loren and Debbie; his stepbrother, Jonathan; and his father-in-law and mother-in-law, John and Connie Arnould.
Private First Class Anthony S. Miller, 19, San Antonio
4-13-03
Anthony Miller wasnt much different from most teens. He worked an after-school job during high school, listened to the latest rock music on headphones and enjoyed drawing.
But on Monday, April 7, Miller did something few of those teetering on the threshold of adulthood might: He gave his life for his country.
Anthony Scott Miller died at 19, a victim of enemy artillery fire in Iraq.
Miller served in the Headquarters Company, 3 rd Infantry Division, 2 nd Brigade, fixing treads on military vehicles.
He was sent from Fort Stewart, Ga., to Kuwait in October.
Millers brother, Patrick Miller, told The Associated Press the family had not talked with Miller since he called during the Christmas season to tell his family, "happy holidays," and that he missed them.
The family had no way of communicating with Miller after his arrival in Kuwait.
They finally received a mailing address for him just days before an Army representative delivered the news of his death.
Miller grew up in San Antonio, the youngest of three children. He is survived by his father, Patrick Miller Sr.; his mother, Maria Saldivar; a brother, Patrick Miller; and a sister, Susan Saldana. He joined the Army in March 2002 after graduating early from John Jay High School in December 2001.
Staff and students at Jay High School dedicated a moment of silence to Millers memory upon learning the tragic news.
Teachers fondly remembered Miller as a shy student who participated in few extracurricular activities. They said he was pleasant and responsible and always had a smile on his face.
"We are all poorer for his passing," said Michael Scully, Millers chemistry teacher. "I would have been proud to call him my son."
Scully said his enduring memory of Miller will be that of a good friend who was pleasant to be around.
"Anthony was an exceedingly good-humored, personable and kind young man," Scully said. "His devotion to his family was notable."
Miller was most deeply devoted to his mother and she to him. When Miller was sent to Fort Stewart, Maria Saldivar moved to Georgia to be close to him during his first assignment.
Second Lieutenant Jeffrey J. Kaylor, 24, Clifton, Va.
4-13-03
In the armed forces, its common for couples to "move up" their wedding dates to marry before one is deployed. War separates them before they get a chance to set up a home together.
Fewer miles separated Jeff Kaylor and Jenna Cosbey than most couples. Married in July, 2 nd Lt. Jeffrey Kaylor and Lt. Jennifer "Jenna" Cosbey were sent to different bases in Iraq.
Their honeymoon consisted of two nights at a Sheraton in Syracuse, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported. The next day, Cosbey was off to Missouri for training, and Kaylor headed to Oklahoma for his. The separation was not unexpected. They had, after all, met at Virginia Tech where both were preparing for military careers. In the past few weeks, they had kept in touch via e-mail and had been allowed two "morale calls" each week.
But Cosbeys mother said they had both been so busy, sometimes one would not be available when the other called.
Kaylor was assigned to C Battery, 39th Field Artillery Battalion, based at Fort Stewart, Ga.
He died Monday, April 7, when the Humvee he was riding in came under a grenade attack.
Roxanne and Michael Kaylor lost their son. Cindy and Patricia Kaylor lost their brother.
Before his graduation from Centreville High School, Kaylor was a middle linebacker and had a teens typical obsession with cars, including Grand Prix and NASCAR. "If it was a car, he liked it," his father said.
Cindy Kaylor is a junior at Centreville, where her brothers death personalized the war for all of the students and teachers. His death was announced over the public address system at the school.
Kaylors father said the family is "beyond shock."
Kaylors wife has been sent home from Iraq to await the arrival of her husbands body. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Three-year-old Bailee Mitchell hung 24 yellow ribbons on trees outside their new home, in Antioch, W. Va., waiting for her father's return.
Her father, Spc. George A. Mitchell, 35, of Rawlings, Md., died April 7 at a field hospital, the same day an Iraqi rocket landed near his tent, fatally wounding him, another soldier and two journalists south of Baghdad.
Mitchell was stationed at Fort Stewart, Ga., with the 3 rd Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. His unit had been in Kuwait since September and originally was scheduled to rotate back to the states in March.
He is survived by his wife, Brenda Sue Mitchell, 43; two of their children, Bailee Elizabeth, 3, and Joshua Irwin, 23 months; and a 10-year-old son, Christopher Mitchell of Lebanon, Pa., from a previous relationship.
After graduating from high school in Pennsylvania, Mitchell served six years in the Army, was a veteran of Desert Storm and then decided to go into the reserves.
George and Brenda met in Lebanon, Pa., where she worked at Wal-Mart. The two were married Dec. 20, 2000.
After the Sept. 11 attacks and the birth of their second child, George decided to re-enlist.
According to The Associated Press, George's wife, Brenda, said, "He really missed it. He loved the Army life, the camaraderie."
He also told Brenda that "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 itching to do it back then."
Mitchell's mother-in-law, Levonna Purinton of Rawlings, Md., said the last time the family saw George was at Christmas when he was interviewed in Kuwait by the Fox News Channel, "proudly displaying a photo of his kids and wishing them all season's greetings."
Purinton said that in January 2003 her daughter and the children moved from Rawlins, Md., to their house in Antioch, W.Va.
She said George loved puttering around the house, loved the Army, but mostly he was "crazy about his kids and they were crazy about him."
Even though Purinton said the family had not been notified when George would be sent home, they did know Bailee's yellow ribbons still will be on the trees.
William Watkins transferred to the Air Force in 2001 after 12 years of service as a Navy flight officer to be near his wife.
Watkins, a weapons system officer whom his fellow Navy fliers nicknamed "Salty," was one of two officers who died when an F-15E went down Monday, April 7, during a combat mission in Iraq.
The pilot, Air Force Academy graduate Eric B. Das of Amarillo, Texas, was identified last week. The Pentagon hasnt determined the cause of the crash.
"Bills love of God, country, family and life to the fullest was an example for all," his family said in a prepared statement.
"He cherished every friendship and relationship in his life and was truly an inspiration to our family, friends, fellow servicemen, and to all who knew him."
A 1989 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Watkins was assigned to the 333 rd Fighter Squadron at Johnson Air Force Base.
He transferred from the Navy nearly two years ago to be near his wife, Maj. Melissa Watkins, an Air Force intelligence officer stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.
Watkins was "a great dad" who "truly enjoyed life," his uncle Jeff Haley said.
He was a man who dreamed of flying and wanted to sail the ocean, perform on stage, sing in the choir and play football.
His English teacher at Woodberry Forest (Va.) High School, Edward Blain, said Watkins was "a big fellow but very artistic" who enjoyed the theater.
Blain recalled Watkins did an "impersonation of Elvis Presley and brought down the house" in his role as the Pharaoh in a high school production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
Watkins son, William, is 11 months old, and another child is due in August.
"Bills legacy will continue in the lives of his two children as it will in the memories that each of us holds dear of this truly caring and loving man," the family statement said.
In addition to his wife and son, Watkins is survived by his mother and stepfather, Anne Marie and Norman Atkins, of Danville, N.C.; a brother, Edward, of Richmond, Va.; and a sister, Mary Garrett, of Philadelphia.
"We have always been and will continue to be proud to have known him even for this very short time," the familys statement said.
Private First Class Juan Guadalupe Garza Jr., 20, Temperance, Mich
4-14-03
Juan Garza was a kid who got a second chance, and he used it to serve his country in the Marines. "That was his calling ever since he was a kid," said Mike Bucher, Garzas uncle. "He wanted to be a Marine. He did what he wanted to do." Garzas mission ended Tuesday. An enemy sniper shot him in the chest while he patrolled Baghdads international airport. He leaves behind his 19-year-old bride Casey Garza.
Perseverance. Ambition. Guts. Those were the trademarks of Garzas life. He was a tough, hard-nosed guy with the soft core of a romantic. After his parents divorced, Garza got into trouble as a teenager. School wasnt going well. Gangs and drugs beckoned. When he was 15, Garzas mother, Mary Ann Garza, sent him from their home in Texas Rio Grande Valley to live with his aunt and uncle, Mike and Jodi Bucher. He moved into a little gray house off a dirt road in Temperance, Mich. "I got full custody of him because he was having problems down in Texas," Bucher said. "We just wanted to give him a better life, and he succeeded." After his first day at small Summerfield High School, Garza came home and asked his uncle: "Do you realize Im the only Mexican there? " It didnt matter. He made friends wherever he went. "He was a great kid, and he was a real outgoing person," Summerfield principal Joe Palka said. "He liked to make everybody laugh and he always wanted people to have fun and get along." Garza wasnt a big kid, but he was a warrior on the football field, a hard-hitting linebacker. Off the field he was a peacemaker. Palka said Garza stepped between angry students in the cafeteria or the hallways.
He was determined to become the first in the Garza family to graduate from high school. Classes were never easy for Garza, but he accomplished his goal in June 2002.
Thats the same month he achieved his other lifelong goal, joining the Marines. Family photos show a 6-year-old Garza at attention, wearing a camouflage military hat. When he failed his first Marine Corps entrance exam, Garza buckled down and succeeded the second time.
"Semper Fi, do or die. This is Garza, leave a message," was the recording on his answering machine.
He was with the 1st Battalion, 4 th Marine Regiment, 1 st Marine Division, in Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Garza worked after school at Wendys during his senior year. Flipping burgers wasnt his passion, but his co-worker Casey Cole soon was.
The two fell in love and planned to marry in 2005. But they couldnt wait. Garza and Cole, an Army private stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center outside Washington, D.C., married on Dec. 26 while both were home on leave.
"He was the love of my life," Cole told The (Toledo) Blade. "The best person anyone could ask for. Im not sure what Im supposed to do now."
The young husband embraced his duty, but he feared for his life when his unit shipped out in January. "He was scared," Bucher said. "He was scared to death ."
As the mother of a Marine who came home safely, I can't help but notice that Marines lead this terrible list. It seems strange that the smallest branch of the service has the largest number of casualties....but as we've always been told - the Marines are the first one's in and the last one's out.
My prayers continue EVERY day for those lost and for the loved one's left behind to pick up the pieces.
