Born: September 15, 1988
Died: April 18, 2011 in Landstuhl, Germany
Sgt. Sonny J. Moses of Koror, Palau joined the United States Army in August 2006 arriving at Fort Campbell in November 2009 and was serving as a Signal Support Systems Specialist. His awards and decorations include, Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Medal and Air Assault Badge. He died at age 22 in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds suffered as a result of a grenade attack at Forward Operating Base Gamberi, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, April 16.
Army
101st Special Troops Battalion
101st Sustainment Brigade
101st Airborne Division
Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Burial is at Nigiwal Family Cemetery in Koror Republic of Palau, Palau
To be updated…
Born: February 8, 1982
Died: February 24, 2011 in Pembroke, Kentucky
Staff Sgt. Jerome Firtamag of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia joined the United States Army in March of 2003 arriving at Fort Campbell in January of 2007. His awards and decorations include, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Army Good Conduct Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Medal and Army Service Ribbon. He leaves his wife, Kimberley Firtamag, and his parents, John Firtamag and Ruth Giyeg. Jereme was medically evacuated from Kandahar, Afghanistan, to the United States on Dec. 1, 2010, for treatment of a non-combat related illness. He died at age 29 in Pembroke, Kentucky.
Army
96th Combat Support Battalion
101st Combat Aviation Brigade
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
Fort Campbell, Kentucky
He was buried in the Firtamag Family Cemetery in Pohnpei Federated States of Micronesia.
To be updated…
Born: August 24, 1971 in Manilla, Philippines
Died: January 16, 2006 in Baghdad, Iraq
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Ruel M. Garcia of Wahiawa, Hawaii attended the adult high school at Waipahu at nights to get a high school diploma. He is also a college graduate with a degree in electrical engineering. With that, he got into the Air Force in 1992, where he served for four years. After he became a naturalized citizen, he switched to the Army to attend helicopter flight school. He had come to Hawai’i from the Philippines with plans to fly jets. Ruel married in November of 2004, bought a house in Texas and left for Iraq in November of 2005 to serve his second deployment. He was posthumously awarded, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Air Medal.He leaves his wife, Apple, his grandfather, Nicolas R. Garcia, his sister Eden among others. His parents lived in the Philippines. Ruel was killed at age 34 when his AH64D Apache helicoptor was shot down while he was conducting an aerial patrol in Baghdad. Also killed was Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Rex C. Kenyon.
Army
1st Battalion
4th Aviation Regiment (Attack)
Combat Aviation Brigade
4th Infantry Division
Fort Hood, Texas
Burial is in Valenzuela city, Philippines
Born: August 14, 1959
Died: July 17, 2005 in Bald, Iraq
Staff Sgt. Frank F. Tiai of Pago Pago, American Samoa was very well liked in his home village. He served as a police officer in his native Pago Pago and was a social, outgoing person who everyone knew. Frank wanted to continue to live and work in American Samoa so that he could help care for his oldest brother, Tiai Tiai, who needs constant attention after being injured in an accident years prior. He leaves his wife Talosaga, two children, his son, Faga, and a daughter, Foaga, and several siblings. He was killed at age 45 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his position in Baghdad while on patrol, traveling in the third vehicle of a convoy outside Logistics Support Area Anaconda in Balad. Frank was on his last mission before coming home to visit his family.
Army
Reserve
100th Battalion
442nd Infantry
Fort Shafter, Hawaii
Burial is at Tiai Family Cemetery in Pago Pago, American Samoa
Born: May 17, 1989 in Rota, Marianas Islands of the Pacific
Died: July 16, 2010 in Helmand, Afghanistan
Cpl. Dave M. Santos of Rota, Marianas Islands of the Pacific graduated in 2007 from Rota High School. The oldest of four children, Dave joined the Marine Corps in June of 2007, training at Camp Lejeune, and an Advanced Individual Training at Camp Pendleton. He was promoted to the rank of corporal on March 1, 2009. He deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from August of 2008 to March of 2009 and to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in June 2010. His Awards and Decorations include, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. He is survived by his wife and child. He died at age 21 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Dave’s cousin Cpl Joe G. Charfauros Jr., also died while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom in June 2007.
Marines
2nd Battalion
6th Marine Regiment
2nd Marine Division
II Marine Expeditionary Force
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
Burial is at San Jose Cemetery in Songsong Village, Mariana Islands
Born: September 11, 1978 in Zacatecas, Mexico
Died: January 31, 2004 in Iraq
Cpl. Juan C. Cabral Banuelos of Emporia, Kansas spent most of his childhood in Riverdale, Utah, moving to Emporia with his family as a teenager where he graduated from high school. He attended Ogden High School before moving with his mother during his junior year, after his parents had divorced. He was a popular student who had plans of enlisting in the Army after graduation. Shortly after joining the Army, Cabral returned to Utah and reunited with Anita, a girlfriend when he lived there. He married Anita and adopted her son, and in August of 2002 the couple had another son. He became an Army mechanic and was stationed in Fort Hood, Texas before being sent to Iraq. He loved to tinker, especially on his 1963 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport. That love of cars helped make him a light-truck mechanic in the military. Juan was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star, a second Purple Heart and a promotion to sergeant at a burial ceremony at Washington Heights Memorial Park in South Ogden. A Mexican national, he was also set to become a U.S. citizen in April of 2004. He leaves behind his wife, Anita, and two young sons. He was killed at age 25 when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in Kirkuk, Iraq.
Army
Company A
4th Forward Support Battalion
4th Infantry Division (Mech)
Fort Hood, Texas
Burial is at Washington Heights Memorial Park in Ogden, Utah
Born: June 9, 1979 in Mexico
Died: October 3, 2006 in Baghdad, Iraq
Staff Sgt. Jonathan Rojas of Hammond, Indiana was a man with big plans for the future but hadn’t quite figured out just how to achieve his goals. When he graduated from Hammond High School in 1997, he didn’t know what to do with his life. One day, he would say he had decided that he would study to become a police officer. The next day, he’d tell his father that he wanted to join the family’s landscaping business. Rojas worked for a few years at a glass company as he struggled to figure out what to do next, but in the meantime, he entertained himself by hanging out, playing jokes on everyone and concentrating on his video games. After joining the Army he was stationed in Alaska with his wife before his deployment to Iraq. He had been home for two weeks in January. He died at age 27 of injuries sustained from enemy small-arms fire while performing security operations in Baghdad.
Army
1st Battalion
17th Infantry Regiment
172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team
Fort Wainwright, Alaska
Burial is at Memory Lane Memorial Cemetery in Schererville, Indiana
Born: June 8, 1984 in Dominican Republic
Died: January 29, 2004 in Lakenheath, United Kingdom
Pfc. Luis A. Moreno of the Bronx, New York is the youngest of four children who first came to the United States in 1991 when his family emigrated from the Dominican Republic. He joined the United States Army and dreamed of becoming a police officer for the NYPD after completing his service. KNown by his comrades as, ‘Culon’, he died at age 19 at the Lakenheath Medical Treatment Facility, United Kingdom, after he was shot on Jan. 23 while he was guarding a gas station in Baghdad. He leaves his mother, Francisca de la Cruz, his father, Manuel Moreno, and a sister, Michelle Moreno and two more siblings. He was posthumously granted U.S. citizenship, something that was one of his dreams, to become an American citizen. He was also posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
Army
Battery A
4th Battalion
1st Field Artillery
Fort Riley, Kansas
Burial is at Saint Raymond’s Cemetery in Bronx, New York
Birth: June 16, 1977 – Philippines
Died: July 17, 2003 – Al Hamishiyah, Iraq
DJ
Burial: Westlawn Cemetery, Gering, Nebraska
Born: October 8 1977 in Pakistan
Died: March 2, 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq
Spc. Azhar Ali of Flushing, New York was one of nine children. At age fourteen he left Pakistan for New York and attended John Bowne High School. In 1998 he joined the Army National Guard and had plans of becoming a police officer. After the events of September 11, Azhar patrolled Grand Central Terminal after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He was a quiet, dedicated soldier who jumped right on a task as soon as he was asked. He leaves his parents, Mubarak Ali, and Mushtar Begun, who live in Pakistan and his siblings, two of which is Mazhar and Zulfiqar Ali. Azhar was killed at age 27 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle in Baghdad. Also killed was Army Spc. Wai P. Lwin. The day he died, he was part of a crew that responded to another roadside bombing and rescued those who were wounded. His parents, in their native Pakistan, never knew that their son was killed until well beyond the 24-hour period in which Muslims must be buried. The distraught family made a desperate plea for them to be granted entry to New York for a Muslim funeral.
Army
National Guard
1st Battalion
69th Infantry Regiment
Manhattan, New York
Burial is at the Washington Memorial Park in Mount Sinai, New York