Marine Sgt. Daniel A. Tsue

27, of Honolulu; assigned to 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; attached to 2nd Force Service Support Group, II MEF (Forward); killed Nov. 1 by an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Ramadi, Iraq.

Army Sgt. 1st Class James F. Hayes

48, of Barstow, Calif.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.; killed Nov. 6 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during patrol operations in Taji, Iraq.

Army Spc. Matthew J. Holley

21, of San Diego; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Nov. 15 of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Taji, Iraq.

Marine Lance Cpl. John A. Lucente

19, of Grass Valley, Calif.; assigned to Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward); died Nov. 16 from wounds sustained from an enemy hand grenade while conducting combat operations against enemy forces during Operation Steel Curtain in Ubaydi, Iraq.

Army Spc. Vernon R. Widner

, 34, of Redlands, Calif.; assigned to the 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Nov. 17 in Tikrit, Iraq, of injuries sustained earlier that day when his Humvee was involved in a vehicle accident during convoy operations in Bayji, Iraq. Also killed was Pfc. Anthony A. Gaunky.

=============
Los Angeles Times: Army National Guard Sgt. Shakere T. Guy, 23, Pomona; Killed in Explosion

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-guy27nov27,0,2145526.story?coll=la-home-obituaries

MILITARY DEATHS
Army National Guard Sgt. Shakere T. Guy, 23, Pomona; Killed in Explosion
By Marla Cone
Times Staff Writer

November 27, 2005

Army National Guard Sgt. Shakere T. Guy was known among his fellow soldiers for
his fun-loving sense of humor and his efforts to help the Iraqi people. He used
his own money to buy the children toys, soccer balls, clothes and candy.

Born in Jamaica, Guy became a U.S. citizen in July 2004. A few months later, the
23-year-old Pomona resident was dispatched to Iraq as a member of the National
Guard's 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment in Modesto.

Guy was one of two guardsmen killed Oct. 29 when a roadside bomb exploded near
the Humvee they were riding in during a combat mission in Baghdad. Also killed
was National Guard Capt. Raymond D. Hill II, 39, of Turlock, Calif.

Guy, who was engaged to be married, is survived by his mother, Donna
Sanguinette, and a sister, Tracy Ann Smith, both of Pomona.

At an emotional memorial service for Guy and three other soldiers in the same
company, including the battalion commander, who were killed within a few days,
one friend recalled that Guy was beside him the first time they were attacked
with explosives.

"I couldn't have asked for a better soldier by my side," the unidentified
soldier said in a eulogy for Guy. "He performed very well at his assigned
duties, whether it be as a gunner or driver. He maintained a high level of
alertness, and was quick to point out weaknesses to help the team. Guy wore the
uniform proudly.

"There are many things for which Guy will be remembered, but what we will never
forget is his desire to help others and his commitment to the mission assigned
to him."

Guy and Hill were killed during Operation Clean Sweep, a mission to search for
insurgents who have been attacking U.S. soldiers, said Maj. Richard Lalor of the
National Guard.

Lt. Ky Cheng, also from Pomona, who served in the same company as Guy, said
Guy's platoon was involved in humanitarian and civilian affairs work to help
Iraqi communities.

"He said he wasn't there to fight or hurt. He wanted to help," said Cheng, who
was wounded in early October and has returned home. "He wanted to make a
difference. He was a genuine person who sincerely cared."

Guy "had fun with life and would take an awkward situation and make it funny,"
Cheng said, adding that he would have made a great comedian.

A graduate of Pomona High School, Guy worked at a Home Depot store in Mira Loma,
and joined the National Guard in 2000 to help pay for his education. Just before
he died, he told his mother and colleagues that, when he returned from Iraq, his
goal was to return to school to get a degree in computer engineering.

"Although his personal goals were not accomplished," the fellow soldier said in
his eulogy, "he did manage to accomplish a greater goal — giving other human
beings a better way of life through countless hours of no sleep and a lot of
hard work and sweat."

Trained as a tank driver but deployed as a gunner, Guy had served in Iraq for 10
months and was expected to return home in December. He was awarded, among other
badges and medals, a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and National Defense Service
Medal.

His National Guard battalion has often been under fire in insurgent attacks and
bombings, with 11 soldiers killed and more than 100 wounded among its 700
troops.

Guy returned home for two weeks in April and spoke by phone with his mother four
days before he died. She told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin that her son
would not talk about the war when he visited, and that she told him: "Whatever
it takes, get out of there alive."

"I am still having trouble absorbing the fact that you have parted with us," his
friend said in the eulogy. "The only thing that I can think of is that God
looked around and found an empty place, he put his arms around you and lifted
you to rest and only he knows why."

Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times

http://www.desertdispatch.com/2005/113327875432196.html

Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Fort Irwin soldier dies in Iraq on Thanksgiving

By ADRIENNE ZIEGLER

Staff Writer

BARSTOW -- Fort Irwin soldier Spc. Javier Villanueva, 25, a medic with the 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, died Thursday from injuries he sustained Wednesday when he was struck by an improvised explosive device near Hit, Iraq. Villanueva was from Waco, Texas.

Villanueva had a wife, Felicia, and a 1-year-old daughter, Talihia, who recently moved back to Texas from Fort Irwin.

"Javier loved to kid around and act crazy. He didn't care," said his aunt, Linda Villanueva, also from Waco. "There was no telling what he would do when he would take off with his cousins."

She described the young man as tall and thin. She also said he had a lot of personality.

"He was my favorite nephew," she said.

She said she spoke to Villanueva from Iraq on Nov. 17, when the soldiers received cell phones.

"He was telling me about the food and smells there," she said. "When he was getting ready to hang up I said, 'Hey Javier, here comes the hug. Did you feel that?' He said, 'Yeah.'"

Villanueva had a unique sense of style as well, she said.

"He didn't care how he dressed," she said. "He was all mismatched. He would say, 'I don't care.' He was a good kid. He wasn't perfect, of course, but he was a good kid."

Villanueva was close to his younger brother, David, 20, and he was the oldest nephew in the family.

"David looked up to him," she said. "In his eyes, Javier could do no wrong. "

She said that Villanueva was looking forward to returning and was expecting to come home on Dec. 27.

"He said he was getting so anxious," she said. "He was showing the patrol around that was going to take over. He was all excited about his daughter who turned 1 in September."

Villanueva is the 13th Fort Irwin soldier killed in Iraq.

Contact the writer: (760) 256-4122 or adrienne_ziegler@link.freedom.com

© Desert Dispatch. A Freedom Communications Newspaper. All rights reserved.

Mick Bekowsky
Erick Hodges

A late reply but i knew these two Marines.. I joined a few months before Mick and remember when he signed a piece of paper when we exchanged phone numbers to know each other as "Poolies" as what you are called before you goto bootcamp. I attended his Funeral in Concord as I am also originally from Concord. I also talked to Erick one day before we shipped off to boot.

May All of them rest in peace..

Originally Posted By pieeater: Marine Lance Cpl. John A. Lucente 19, of Grass Valley, Calif.; assigned to Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward); died Nov. 16 from wounds sustained from an enemy hand grenade while conducting combat operations against enemy forces during Operation Steel Curtain in Ubaydi, Iraq.

This Marine was here local.

www.desertdispatch.com/2005/113456978649979.html

Wednesday, December 14, 2005
A soldier remembered
Fort Irwin family copes with infantryman's death

By ADRIENNE ZIEGLER

Staff Writer

FORT IRWIN -- Elizabeth Orosco's voice wavers every few moments when she talks about her late husband, Fort Irwin soldier Sgt. Adrian Orosco.

"I had 10 beautiful years with him," she says. "I can't believe he's gone. He was the love of my life."

The pain is still fresh for Orosco, 26, who learned of her husband's death on Friday and is still in disbelief.

"I need to hold him to know it's real," she said. "I need to feel him cold to know."

The 26-year-old father of three was killed in the Abu Ghraib region of western Baghdad on Friday when, according to the Department of Defense, an improvised explosive device hidden in a vehicle detonated near where he was performing unspecified combat operations.
Story Photo

OROSCO

Sgt. Orosco was an infantryman with the 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Irwin, and was from Corcoran.

Elizabeth Orosco said more than once on Tuesday that her husband had been a great father to their three kids, Adrian, 8, Andrew, 6, and Isabelle, 2.

"He joined the military to make a better life for us," she said.

She recounted days that her husband had spent playing video games with their sons, and sitting in their living room picking the M&M's out of trail mix with Isabelle.

"I need to be strong for my kids," she said. "My son said, 'Daddy died a hero, huh, Mom?' He was weeping. He said, 'I was proud of him, Mom.' I see him every day when I look at my children."

Orosco last saw her husband in April when he came home on leave. He was scheduled to return home again in January.

"He sent me an e-mail that he was counting the days till he could hold me," she said. "It's kind of like the trip on the finish line."

But Orosco is not always tearful when she speaks about her husband.

"He was a Ford man," she said, half-laughing. "He was a quarter Mexican, a quarter Puerto Rican, a quarter Hopi Indian and a quarter Ford. He could take things apart and put them back together with his eyes closed."

The self-taught mechanic shared his passion for cars with his wife. Before he died, she had fixed their car, replacing the starter, the alternator and the exhaust, but she never got to tell him.

"His passion was my passion -- getting greasy. He never got the e-mail that said the car's a go," she said. "I just wanted him to be proud of me."

Elizabeth Orosco might be devastated by her husband's death, but she said she's trying to be strong. She's been helped along by friends and neighbors in her family readiness group, which has brought support, meals, and strength.

"It's been good," she said of the help she's received.

"When people talk about the Army family, this is when it shows itself in its purest form," said Lt. Col. Frank Wenzel, Squadron Commander for the Regimental Support Squadron, 11th ACR, at Fort Irwin. "That support continues for days, weeks and months after."

Wenzel is the officer at Fort Irwin responsible for notifying families when their loved ones die serving their country.

"We go to extreme lengths to make sure that it's done right, because a mistake at that point is unthinkable," Wenzel said. "This isn't something that's thrown together."

Family readiness groups are there to take over after Wenzel's done all he can, he said. They offer the personal support that Wenzel said he knows he can't always give families. Ideally, the groups have created the friendships and bonds before the devastation of death hits.

The Army also provides the families with a casualty assistance officer -- an individual trained to take care of all the details that a family might not know how to deal with at the time of the soldier's death, such as legal issues and any benefits and questions about housing.

Wenzel said his job is a difficult one sometimes. In the past, family reactions have ranged from anger to stoicism. From the moment he is notified of a soldiers death, he said he wishes he didn't have to tell the family, but that he wouldn't want anyone else to do it, either.

"I know from the time I get that middle-of-the-night phone call what has to happen," he said. "It's something that you can't describe the emotional nature of it."

In the meantime, Elizabeth Orosco is planning to stay at Fort Irwin to put the pieces back together and wait for the rest of the unit to return home.

"I'm going to be here with them when they come back," she said. "I am proud of them. It's not their fault, it's God's will. I want them to come home safe -- and I'll be waiting for them."

Contact the writer: (760) 256-4122 or adrienne_ziegler@link.freedom.com

Army Sgt. Regina C. Reali

25, of Freso, Calif.; assigned to the 351st Civil Affairs Command, Army Reserve, Mountain View, Calif.; killed Dec. 23 when an improvised explosive device detonated near her Humvee in Baghdad. Also killed was Spc. Cheyenne C. Willey.

Army Spc. Cheyenne C. Willey

36, of Fremont, Calif.; assigned to the 351st Civil Affairs Command, Army Reserve, Mountain View, Calif.; killed Dec. 23 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee in Baghdad. Also killed was Sgt. Regina C. Reali.

Army Spc. Sergio Gudino

22, of Pomona, Calif.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; killed Dec. 25 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his M1A1 tank during combat operations in Baghdad.

Army Spc. Marcelino R. Corniel

23, of La Puente, Calif.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, California Army National Guard, Fullerton, Calif.; killed Dec. 31 when an enemy mortar attack occurred in the vicinity of his observation post in Baghdad.

Originally Posted By Noname: Mariano's father, Bob Mariano, is a sergeant with the Stockton Police Department. "I want people to remember that Robbie was a decent person, that he did what he believed in," Bob Mariano said. "He believed in the mission in Iraq and he died fighting for this country so that people can have the rights they have today."

This guy will get ZERO press over a statement like this but Cindy Shehand will get 400 cameras pointed at her for saying the opposite. No media bias ... think again.

Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Rex C. Kenyon

34, of El Segundo, Calif.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment (Attack), Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed Jan. 16 when his AH64D Apache helicoptor was shot down while he was conducting an aerial patrol in Baghdad. Also killed was Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Ruel M. Garcia.

Marine Lance Cpl. Brandon Dewey

20, of San Joaquin, Calif.; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward); killed Jan. 20 by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while he was conducting combat operations in Haqlaniyah, Iraq. Also killed was Cpl. Carlos Arrelano-Pandura.

Marine Cpl. Carlos Arrelano-Pandura

, 22, of Los Angeles; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward); killed Jan. 20 by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while he was conducting combat operations in Haqlaniyah, Iraq. Also killed was Lance Cpl. Brandon Dewey.

Army Sgt. David L. Herrera, 26, of Oceanside, Calif.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.; killed Jan. 28 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Baghdad.

Slain Tracy Marine Remembered at Funeral On Monday afternoon family and friends said their final goodbyes to a Tracy Marine killed by a suicide bomber in the war in Iraq. Twenty-year-old Lance Cpl. Brandon Dewey was kiled when a car full of explosives was detonated in the Al-Anbar Province, about 150 miles from Baghdad, on January 20. Between 300 and 400 mourners attended the funeral at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Tracy. Dewey had plans to become a police officer after leaving the Marines. To honor him, the Union City Police Department made him an honorary member of their force. Dewey's parents both worked in the police department. His mother is still emplyed as a dispatcher there. "May Brandon continue to rest in peace, knowing his dream of becoming a police officer after he came home, has come true," said Union City Police Chief Randy Ulibarri, speaking at the service. The young Marine was serving his second tour in Iraq and was slated to return home in April. He'd already received a Purple Heart for being wounded in Fallujah, during some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. Dewey is the fifth serviceman from the Tracy area to be killed in the war. Created: 1/30/2006 3:35:29 PM Updated: 1/30/2006 10:53:17 PM

www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=15638

Originally Posted By Noname: Slain Tracy Marine Remembered at Funeral On Monday afternoon family and friends said their final goodbyes to a Tracy Marine killed by a suicide bomber in the war in Iraq. Twenty-year-old Lance Cpl. Brandon Dewey was kiled when a car full of explosives was detonated in the Al-Anbar Province, about 150 miles from Baghdad, on January 20. Between 300 and 400 mourners attended the funeral at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Tracy. Dewey had plans to become a police officer after leaving the Marines. To honor him, the Union City Police Department made him an honorary member of their force. Dewey's parents both worked in the police department. His mother is still emplyed as a dispatcher there. "May Brandon continue to rest in peace, knowing his dream of becoming a police officer after he came home, has come true," said Union City Police Chief Randy Ulibarri, speaking at the service. The young Marine was serving his second tour in Iraq and was slated to return home in April. He'd already received a Purple Heart for being wounded in Fallujah, during some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. Dewey is the fifth serviceman from the Tracy area to be killed in the war. Created: 1/30/2006 3:35:29 PM Updated: 1/30/2006 10:53:17 PM www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=15638

Damn! Thats sad.

Army Pfc. Caesar S. Viglienzone, 21, of Santa Rosa, Calif.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.; killed Feb. 1 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee in Baghdad. Also killed were 1st Lt. Garrison C. Avery and Spc. Marlon A. Bustamante.

Marine Lance Cpl. Hugo R. Lopez-Lopez, 20, of La Habra, Calif.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, (Forward); died Jan. 27 at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, of wounds sustained Nov. 20 when an improvised explosive device denoted while he was conducting combat operations in Rawah, Iraq.