Atanasio Martin



Baldwin Park soldier died from enemy fire in Iraq

Associated Press

BALDWIN PARK, Calif. — An Army sergeant ambushed and killed this week in Iraq was remembered by his family as a proud and courageous soldier who was living out a long-held dream of serving in the U.S. military.

Atanasio Haro Marin Jr. — whose name was spelled Atanacio Haromarin in a military announcement — died June 3 when his checkpoint was attacked with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades.

“It takes a lot of courage to serve,” said Ismael Haro Marin, his older brother. “We are all going to miss him, we are missing him already. We wish it was a dream. We are trying to wake up to reality. There is so much pain.”

Marin, 27, known as “Nacho” to his family, was born in Momax, Mexico, and lived there with his mother while his father, Atanasio, worked in California picking fruit and doing construction jobs to support seven children.

The family reunited in Los Angeles when he was 2, later moving to suburban Baldwin Park east of the city.

He competed on the Sierra Vista High School track team and also ran in a Los Angeles Marathon.

Upon graduation, he joined the National Guard over the objections of his parents, the family told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. When his tour of duty ended, he transferred to the Army, and was making the military a career.

“I want to run from here and go to wherever he is at,” his distraught mother, Catalina, told KMEX-TV. “I want to see him even if he is dead, I want to kiss him.”

Marin was assigned to Battery C, 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas.

He last saw his family during a January leave, two months before he left for the Middle East.

He managed to call home twice in April and had sent a Mother’s Day card that read: “Don’t worry, be happy.”

“He was never unhappy,” said his sister-in-law, Aracely Haro Marin. “He would say, ‘Don’t worry about it, there will be better times.’ ”

Died:
June 03, 2003

R.I.P.

Thank you, God Bless

William James




Associated Press -- HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Marine Cpl. William C. James, killed last week in fighting in Iraq, had dreamed of military service even as a little boy, when he saluted soldiers marching in Fourth of July parades.

James was a rifleman with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division of the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

The Marine Corps said he was killed Wednesday in the al-Anbar province, although his sister, Lynn Booth of Oceanside, said he died Tuesday.

Details were not released but the province includes the town of Fallujah, where U.S. troops have been locked in fierce combat with insurgents.




James, 24, moved to Huntington Beach from a small town in North Carolina in 1997 and enlisted in the Marines after graduating from Huntington Beach High School.

"He was our big brother and we all just looked up to him," Booth told the Orange County Register.

"He had the prettiest smile. They used to call him the 'Cheshire Cat,'" Booth said. "He loved talking about the places he'd been, the things he'd done."

James came from a military family. Two of his grandfathers served in the Navy and his father, William P. James, was stationed with the Army in Germany during the Vietnam War.

James had signed up for duty protecting U.S. embassies but after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks he asked to be sent into combat, his sister said.

He was sent to Iraq in June. He sent e-mails home about every two weeks and thanked family members for sending him packages of deodorant, toothpaste and powdered strawberry lemonade.

In his last message, sent Oct. 25, James said he was going to a place where he would be unable to write home or even take a shower for 10 days at a time, his sister said.

James had talked about staying with the Marine Corps for 20 years and also about marrying his girlfriend, Mira Massimino, whom he met while stationed in Africa.

In addition to Booth, he is survived by his mother and father, another sister and a brother.

Ryan C. Young

21, of Corona, Calif.; assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Fort Riley, Kan.; died Dec. 2 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., of wounds he sustained Nov. 8, 2003, when an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle in Fallujah, Iraq.





Ryan C. Young showed his fun-loving spirit in the way he wooed Sarah Smith in high school: He played practical jokes on her, tying her shoelaces together and poking holes in her soda cans. But there was more than that between him and the young woman who would become his wife.

“We had a bond I won’t have with another person,” she said. “It’s a stronger bond than anyone will ever know.”

Sgt. Young, 21, of Corona, Calif., died Dec. 2 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., of wounds he received in November when his vehicle was struck by a bomb in Iraq. He was stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., and had been deployed to Iraq in December.

Young’s mother, Kathi Cutshall, said her son was proud to be serving in the Army.

“He was so excited to go to Iraq,” Cutshall said. “That’s what he was trained to do. He wanted to protect this country.”

— Associated Press

Joseph B. Spence



Scotts Valley Marine loved Corps, copters

Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Spence -- Joey to his family, friends and fellow infantrymen in Charlie Company -- died surrounded by the men he considered brothers: his fellow Marines.

``He wanted to be a Marine since he was 9 years old,'' said Rebecca Spence, his mother. ``I was always trying to talk him out of re-enlisting. When he was home for Thanksgiving in 2003, I tried . . . and he gave me a big, long speech, and at the end of it I was in tears.''

The Marine Corps, she said, ``was his calling.''

Spence, 24, of Scotts Valley, died early Wednesday morning in the crash of a CH-53E helicopter in the desert of western Iraq. Thirty others, all but one of them Marines, perished in the crash, the deadliest single incident on the deadliest single day for U.S. troops since March 2003, when U.S. forces invaded.

The Sea Stallion chopper went down at Ar-Rutbah, about 220 miles west of Baghdad, near the Syrian and Jordanian borders. While Spence's family, quoting news reports, believe a sandstorm may have caused the crash, officially it remains under investigation, a Marine spokeswoman said Friday.

Helicopters were part of what Joey Spence loved best about the Marines, his father, Jim Spence, said. ``He liked rappelling out of choppers. He thought that was exciting,'' said Spence, a radiology technician at Watsonville Community Hospital, himself a Marine and Army veteran. ``He was like a big kid in the ultimate camping adventure you could ever imagine.''

Iraq was the setting for that adventure. His unit, the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, participated in the campaign against the Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines in 2003 (the family has a photo of him playing with Filipino kids), but when he crossed from Kuwait into Iraq in September 2004, they said, he broke into tears. He felt he had a mission to help the Iraqi people.

``When they were clearing out the houses in Al-Fallujah,'' his mother said, ``he said the Iraqi people were grateful for the Marines' presence and the Iraqi soldiers don't want them to leave. He said that America has no idea -- no idea -- what our military is doing over there and how grateful the people are. . . .

``It's not comfortable. It's not safe. But it's where he wanted to be.''

Joey Spence was born in Santa Cruz and attended area high schools, graduating in 1998. He played guitar in a garage band and liked to ``four-wheel'' around the Santa Cruz Mountains accompanied by his pit bull, Magoo, his father said.

He was an active church member, attending Gateway Bible Church in Scotts Valley.

After high school, he worked at a feed store in Scotts Valley and at Central Home Supply in Santa Cruz, where he began to freelance landscape and construction jobs to the customers. He was setting up a business -- had just gotten his first cell phone, his mother said -- when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. He joined the Marines that December.

After boot camp in San Diego and infantry school at Camp Pendleton, he was stationed at the Marine base in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

He met Elisabeth Bertsch of Scotts Valley in the mid-1990s when he was 16 and she was 14; they were married on Dec. 28, 2002.

Their daughter, Providence, was born last fall, after Joey's unit left for Iraq. He never saw her, but he heard her on the phone -- as recently as last Saturday.

He had just returned from the desert, where a bomb had blown the contents of a sewer pipe all over Joey and two other Marines. They stayed on the job three days before they could get back to base for a shower, said Jim Spence.

Funeral arrangements are pending, but one thing the family was sure of Friday: Joey Spence will be buried in Scotts Valley, and at his request the ashes of his beloved pit bull will be buried with him.

Joseph B. Spence

Born: June 18, 1980, Santa Cruz

Died: Jan. 26, 2005, Iraq

Survived by: Wife, Elisabeth; daughter, Providence; parents, Jim and Rebecca Spence; brothers, Tommy and Roger; grandparents, Beryl Bambauer and Therese and Harland Johnson; aunt and uncle, Robert and Betsy Bambauer; cousin, Nick Peterson.

Services: Pending

Originally Posted By Pthfndr: Just read today, of the 1400+ people we have lost over there, 169 were from CA. Not just stationed here, but grew up here before joining the service. That's more than 10% of the total. Seems taxes are not the only thing we give more of and get less back

Its pretty damn sad to see the pictures of these guys when I'm getting these storys.

Morgen Jacobs




Soldier from Santa Cruz dies in Iraq

Associated Press

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — A 20-year-old soldier from Santa Cruz prompted to join the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was killed last week in Iraq by an explosive device.

Spc. Morgen Jacobs died Oct. 7, one day after he was injured in Aaliyah when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol vehicle, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.

Jacobs joined the military after graduating Soquel High School in June 2002. He had been in Iraq since January.

“After 9/11, he decided he was joining the Army to serve and protect his country,” his father, Todd Jacobs, told the Santa Cruz County Sentinel. “He sat on the couch in our living room and told us that.”

Jacobs was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Schweinfurt, Germany.

“He died with his boots on,” Todd Jacobs said. “I want him to be remembered as the individual who was fighting for freedom.”

Jacobs was an active youth, enjoying softball, biking, golf and skimboarding.

“He was a very active little boy,” his father told the San Francisco Chronicle. “He was always building models ... building airplanes, building ships, playing with his Legos.”

Jacobs shared few details about his service in Iraq with his family, preferring to catch up on what was going on at home.

On a trip home this summer, Jacobs talked about his reasons for serving in Iraq, saying he wanted to make sure his sister would grow up in a safe world.

“He wasn’t political,” Todd Jacobs told the Chronicle. “I don’t even know if he knew who’s running for president right now. It was all about country and fighting for freedom. I believe that he died honorably, and that he was fighting for that cause. For freedom.”

Died:
October 07, 2004

Victor A. Gonzalez



California Marine killed in Iraq

Associated Press

WATSONVILLE, Calif. — A 19-year-old Marine from Watsonville was killed this week as a result of enemy action in Iraq’s Anbar province, the Marine Corps said Thursday.

Lance Cpl. Victor A. Gonzalez died Wednesday from injuries received in combat.

“I was so proud of him,” his mother, Amalia Gonzalez, told the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian. “He was so young to die.”

Gonzalez was a rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Gonzalez joined the Marine Corps on Oct. 27, 2003. His personal awards include the National Defense Service Medal. He was sent to Iraq on Sept. 2.

“I told him, ‘If this is what you want, I will support you. I just hope nothing happens,”’ his mother said. “And now it has.”

Gonzalez aspired to be a police officer. He had served as a cadet at the Watsonville Police Department for 3 1/2 years, riding with police officers and helping direct traffic.

“He was a stellar cadet that rose to the highest ranking,” Watsonville Police Capt. Manny Solano said. “He was a role model for all of the other cadets. This has completely devastated our department.”

Gonzalez, who was born in Salinas, graduated from Watsonville High School. He is survived by younger siblings Eden, 15, Oscar, 8, and Myrna, 4, and parents Serge and Amalia.

Gonzalez played soccer and ran cross country but his real focus was always on becoming a police officer.

“Ever since he was a kid, ever since he was a chiquillo, he wanted to be a police officer,” his father told the Santa Cruz County Sentinel. “And he always thought that joining the Marines would get him to where he wanted to be.”

Richard P Slocum




HONOLULU — A Kaneohe-based Marine has died in Iraq from injuries suffered in a non-combat related vehicle accident, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Lance Cpl. Richard P. Slocum, 19, of Saugus, Calif., died Oct. 24 after the crash near Abu Gharib, Iraq. The accident was under investigation, the Pentagon said in a brief statement.

Further details were unavailable.

Slocum was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay.

Gunnery Sgt. Claudia LaMantia, a base spokeswoman, said Slocum was assigned to Kaneohe in February and had no family in the islands.

About 900 members of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment from Kaneohe were mobilized in August for combat duty in Iraq. They left for the Middle East from Okinawa, Japan, where they had been since early July as part of a regularly scheduled six-month deployment.

Slocum is the first Hawaii-based Marine killed in either Iraq or Afghanistan since the start of the war in Iraq in March 2003. Slocum had no family in Hawaii, military officials said.

The Marine’s parents, Kay and Robert Slocum, were given few details on his death. They were told their son died when his Humvee overturned while he was maneuvering through barricades at a Marine base.

“He had a lot of friends. You wouldn’t believe all the friends who have been here today,” said his uncle, Keith Lair. “He liked to have fun; he was really popular.”

Slocum, who graduated in 2003 from Saugus High School, broke his foot during boot camp, which delayed his Marine graduation by a week.

He is survived by his parents; sister, Kathy and brother Robert Jr.

Jeremy D Bow




Lemoore Marine among eight killed in Iraq attack

Associated Press

LEMOORE, Calif. — A 20-year-old Marine from Lemoore was among eight Hawaii-based Marines killed in Iraq in the deadliest attack against the U.S. military in six months.

Lance Cpl. Jeremy D. Bow died Saturday when a car bomb exploded next to a truck outside Fallujah in Iraq’s Anbar province, the Pentagon said Monday. The attack came as U.S. forces prepare for a major assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah ahead of Iraqi elections due by Jan. 31.

Bow belonged to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division of the Marine Expeditionary Force based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay. He is the first Kings County soldier, and the fifth from the San Joaquin Valley, to die in the Iraq war.

“Everyone is just in shock,” said family friend Shelly Fortner. “He was 20. Just a baby. Too young to die.”

After graduating from Lemoore High School in 2002, Bow joined the Marine Corps in August 2003. He attended the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton during February 2004, where he trained to become a machine gunner, according to the Marines.

“He was a great guy,” said Pvt. Jeremy Betteridgeid, a Marine who said he had attended Lemoore High with Bow. “I’m going to miss him.”


Died:
October 30, 2004

Geoffrey Perez




Marine Corps Pfc. Geoffrey Perez

24, of Los Angeles; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Aug. 15 of injuries received from enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.





Growing up, Geoffrey Perez had a lot of dreams. One of them was seeing his name in lights. "He wanted to make movies and be like Jean-Claude Van Damme," said his mother, Blanca Riaheta de Perez. Another was becoming a soldier. The 24-year-old from Los Angeles died Aug. 15 of injuries suffered in action in Iraq's Anbar province. He was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. "He was so proud of the military. He was always singing the Marine Corps hymn," said his sister Lidia. She described her brother as a "party person," the kind of guy who could walk into a quiet room and instantly make it fun. "He left a lot of broken hearts," she said. Before he left, his sister gave Perez some advice: "Be careful. Keep your eyes open and watch your back." "I'll be back," he promised. "But he's not," Lidia Perez said. In addition to his parents, Geoffrey Perez is survived by a 19-month-old son, Jonathan Jesus Perez.

— Associated Press

Jose Gutierrez





By Martin Kasindorf
USA Today

LOS ANGELES — One of the first U.S. servicemen killed in combat in Iraq was not a citizen of the country for which he sacrificed his life.

Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, 22, a rifleman with the Marines, died in a firefight March 21 near Umm Qasr.

Born in Guatemala, Gutierrez held permanent U.S. resident status, which he obtained in 1999.

At 14, with his parents dead, Gutierrez followed the path of 700,000 of his countrymen to California. He made the 2,000-mile journey from his Guatemala City neighborhood without entry papers. He hopped 14 freight trains to get through Mexico. U.S. immigration authorities detained him.

Fernando Castillo, Guatemala’s consul general in Los Angeles, says the United States doesn’t deport Guatemalan minors who arrive without family. Gutierrez was made a ward of Los Angeles Juvenile Court. He was placed in a series of group homes and foster families. He learned English and finished high school.

When he reached 18, he got residency documents, Castillo said.

Marcelo Mosquera, a machinist from Ecuador, and his wife, Nora, were the last couple that sheltered the lanky teenager. They cared for two younger foster children, as well, at their home in suburban Lomita, said Hector Tobar, a family friend.

Neighbors told the Los Angeles Times that Gutierrez acted as the big brother, taking the younger kids to the nearby McDonald’s.

Tobar said Gutierrez talked of becoming an architect but put college plans on hold to join the Marine Corps a year ago. Jackie Baker, the Mosqueras’ adult daughter, told Spanish-language KVEA-TV here that Gutierrez “wanted to give the United States what the United States gave to him. He came with nothing. This country gave him everything.”

The U.S. Embassy notified Gutierrez’s older sister, his only surviving relative, of his death. He will be buried in Guatemala at her request, Castillo said.

_ The Associated Press contributed to this report

Michael E. Bitz




Marine Sgt. Michael E. Bitz

31, of Ventura, Calif.; assigned to 2nd Assault Amphibious Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed in action near Nasiriyah, Iraq.





Sgt. Michael E. Bitz, 31, died without ever having seen his youngest children, twins born one month ago after he was dispatched to the Persian Gulf.

Bitz was an adventurer who found his life’s path when he joined the Marines in 1995, his mother, Donna Bellman said. And according to his mother-in-law, reached at Bitz’s North Carolina home, the father of four was “a damn good dad.”

In addition to the twins, Bitz also had two sons, Christian, 7, and Joshua, 2.

Bitz and his wife, Janina, lived in Jacksonville, N.C., but he grew up in Ventura, Calif., and graduated from Hueneme High School in Oxnard in 1990.

He wasn’t involved in any clubs or teams but earned good grades, said Joel Lovstedt, Hueneme’s assistant principal. He was a “regular guy, and it looks like he was a good student,” he said.

After graduation, Bitz drifted from job to job, got married, had his son Christian and later divorced. His mother says she told him to consider the military in order to focus his life.

“The Marines did a wonderful thing for him,” Bitz’s mother said. “I don’t regret him joining. I regret that he was killed, but I don’t regret that he joined the military. That basically was the best thing for him to do.”

— Associated Press