Born Nov. 7, 1984 in Harris Co. TX
Died Jan. 26, 2005 near Ar Rutbah, Iraq
When Fred was a baby, his birth parents decided to take a trip to Las Vegas, leaving Fred with another woman to care for him. His parents never came back from their trip for reasons unknown. Patsy Maciel saw Fred was not being taken care of properly in his new home. So she took Fred into her home to raise him. Patsy had another son, Carlos, who was 8 years old at the time and Fred and Carlos became instant friends and held the bond of brothers forever more. At the age of eight, the Maciel family officially adopted Fred. When the judge asked him what surname he wished to have, Fred stood there with a big smile on his face and with no hesitation said, “I want my brother’s last name!” And so it was. When introduced as brothers, people would look at Fred and Carlos with questionable eyes. Fred stood six feet tall, with blue eyes and blond hair. Carlos was five feet tall, black hair, and brown eyes. Brothers? They’d just laugh; they knew they were indeed brothers. Fred graduated from Spring Green High School in 2003 where he was a natural athlete, excelling at basketball and football, and a leader in the Naval Junior ROTC program. In September of 2003 he enlisted in the Marine Corps, because he wanted to protect Texas and Americans from terrorists. After basic training and infantry school, Fred reported to Hawaii, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, 1st Marine Division. In September of 2004 he deployed with his unit to Iraq and was part of the Marine Corps units that secured the area of Fallujah and captured insurgents in preparation for the elections that were to take place on January 30. Fred’s courage, commitment and character shinned during his deployment. On January 26, Fred was one of the military personnel killed when the CH-53E helicopter they were onboard crashed near Ar Rutbah. Fred was set to come home in February, marry his fiancée and eventually wished to become a Texas State Trooper, continuing his commitment to protecting and serving his fellow man. Fred was survived by his mother, Patsy; stepfather Richard Garza; his brother Carlos and several other relatives.
Burial: Calvary Hill Cemetery in Harris County, Texas
Birth: April 20, 1960 - Brazoria, Texas
Death: March 23, 2003 - An Nasiriyah, Iraq
Sgt Jordan was assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Jordan grew up near Houston and claimed Brazoria, Texas, as his hometown. But he didn’t have much of a childhood. His mother was killed by a drunken driver when he was a toddler and his father died of heart failure when he was 13. At 6-3 and a buff 230 pounds, Jordan was a standout high school football player. He remained avid about sports and was a good enough bowler that he talked about turning pro after leaving the Marines. Jordan joined the Marines when he was 27, after a battle with Hodgkin’s disease. “He loved the Marines. He said that’s what made him what he is,” said his wife, Amanda. “If he were here, he’d say he died doing what he was supposed to be doing.” Phillip was a professional Marine who served in the 1991 Gulf war, and on the battlefields of Kosovo and Afghanistan. His confidence was so contagious that his buddies called him “Gump.” Phillip was so nice to so many people that his pals couldn’t resist comparing him to the movie character, Forrest Gump. He was the kind of guy who really did help little old ladies across the street. The Jordans marked their ninth wedding anniversary last Wednesday. Amanda said she last spoke to her husband 10 days ago in a phone call from Kuwait. He said he called because he knew that the onset of war would keep him from calling on the actual date. Phillip and Amanda have a 6-year-old son. “He’s having a really tough time with this,” she said.
Burial: Saint Patrick’s Cemetery, Enfield, Connecticut
Birth: March 12, 1982 - Dallas, Texas
Died: November 1, 2003 - Mosul, Iraq
Spc Johnson was assigned to C Company, 501st Signal Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky, as a communications specialist. He was riding in a humvee when he was hit with an improvised explosive device. Johnson was a single channel tactical satellite operator and provided communications for the commanding general of the 101st. During the onset of combat operations early in the war, he provided radio support that linked the base camps during combat operations. At the time of his death, he was serving as a liaison to the governor of the Nineveh Province in northern Iraq. Maurice was born in Dallas but grew up in the Bloomsdale section of Levittown, Pennsylvania. He attended Harry S. Truman High School where he studied auto repair, excelled at the high jump on the track team, played football and spent hours at the neighborhood basketball court. He graduated in 2000 and was also a graduate of Bucks County Technical School. He entered the Army in July 2000 where he had hopes of making the military his career. Maurice was a quiet, even-tempered and gentle man but always enjoyed making other laugh. He would call his sister from Iraq pretending to be a bill collector or acting like an ex-boyfriend just to stir things up. The Army posthumously awarded him the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for meritorious service. Maurice is survived by a daughter.
Burial: Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly, New Jersey - Section S, Site 253A
Birth: July 18, 1979 - Houston, Texas
Died: October 21, 2003 - Baghdad, Iraq
Spc Johnson was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany. He died of non-combat related injuries.
Burial: Hawkins Cemetery, Burlison, Tennessee
Born: November 8, 1976 in San Antonio, Texas
Died: July 21, 2008 in Guam
Capt. Michael K. Dodson grew up in San Antonio. He had wanted to fly planes since he was 12. So he got in the Civil Air Patrol and worked through the summers to put himself through the program. By the time he went to college, he had clocked 400 commercial flying hours. He earned a bachelor of art degree in electrical engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. But Michael didn’t want to be a navigator forever. He wanted to fly instead. In 2005, he participated in the Euro-Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training program in Wichita Falls, Texas. He was one of 15 out of a more than 300 applicant pool to undergo the international training. Michael had spent five years at Pope Air Force Base as navigator on C-130 cargo airplanes and then was selected for pilot training. He planned to return to C-130s but ended up in B-52s instead. Capt Dodson was a Pilot and Navigator with 2,121 hours of flying time including 293 combat hours. His awards include the Air Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Air Force Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster. He and his wife planned to return to Fayetteville, North Carolina after he completed military service. Michael was on of six victims of the B-52 crash near the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. He was 31.
Burial is at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas -Sec MA3 Site 55
Born: June 10, 1975 in Faribault, Minnesota
Died: November 28, 2006 in Afghanistan
Staff Sergeant Michael Shank of Bonham, Texas was a graduate of Dodd City High School. Michael always wanted to be a soldier with plans to make the Army his career. He spent a years in Iraq and had been stationed in Germany for the past three years prior to going to Afghanistan earlier in 2006. Michael was an MP (military police) and was looking forward to submitting his paperwork to become a drill sergeant. He married Brandy Nicole Guffee, April 18, 1997 at the Congregational Methodist Church in Bonham. He was a member of Boyd Baptist Church. The son of Thomas M. Shank and Jettye Lynn Starr Colbert was posthumously awarded the Combat Action Badge & Purple Heart. He was a member of Boyd Baptist Church. Michael is survived by his wife, Brandy and two daughters, KateLynn and Michaela, his Mother and father: Lynn and John Colbert, Father, Thomas Shank and wife, Joyce. His Brothers, Christopher and Ronnie, and a sister, Robyn. He was a ten-year Army veteran who had served in Iraq and had been in Afghanistan about six months when his Humvee ran over a land mine at age 31.
Army
230th Military Police Company
95th Military Police Battalion
18th Military Police Brigade
Kaiserslautern, Germany
Burial is at Willow Wild Cemetery in Bonham, Texas
Born April 22, 1984 in Valparaiso, FL
Died Jan. 26, 2005 in Ar Rutbah, Iraq
Known by his middle name of Dain, he was born into a military family at Eglin Air Force Base. Dain was educated at Medina Valley High School in Texas, where was a top honors member of the Air Force Junior ROTC before his 2003 graduation. Dain decided to enlist in the Marine Corps, and in order to do so had to get himself into shape. His determination helped him drop from 230 pounds to 200. When he finished boot camp he was a lean and fit 146 pounds. Assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, he deployed to Iraq in September 2004 as a machine gunner. He was killed in a helicopter crash a couple of weeks before he was to come home.
Burial: Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery
Born: September 11, 1974 in Dallas, Texas
Died: January 26, 2005 in Korean Village, Iraq
Capt. Lyle Gordon of Midlothian, Texas graduated from Midlothian High School in 1993 and earned a bachelor’s in Animal Science from Texas A&M University in December 1999. While at A&M, Lyle played rugby for the school’s club team, not a surprising choice for a young man who loved to play rough. He also was in the Marine Reserve while in college. After graduation, he worked briefly as a manager at Sanderson Farms in Bryan. But a short while later, he decided to enter the Marines full time. Ever since Lyle was a kid growing, he had dreams of flying high and fast. As a thrill-seeking youngster, he must have watched the 1980s fighter pilot movie “Top Gun” hundreds of times. Most recently, he had visions of one day blending his loves of flying and animals by owning a horse ranch. There, his piloting skills would come in handy, as he could fly high above his sprawling dream ranch while getting a bird’s-eye view of his herd. He was always happy no matter what and could find something to laugh about in almost any situation. He had a direction and knew exactly what he wanted. He didn’t care if anyone followed him. He was going to do it. Lyle’s determination to become an Aggie started at an early age. When he was 13, after his family made a trip to A&M to watch a football game and see Bonfire burn, he told his mother that it was the school for him. Before going to Officer Candidates School, he made one last trip to the Bryan-College Station area to say goodbye to old college buddies. It was then that he met his wife-to-be, Kaci. The two corresponded through letters before getting married. After spending time in Japan and Korea, he went to Iraq in September. While in Iraq at Christmastime, he helped deliver more than 100 packages to soldiers. People in his hometown had gathered to make care packages, which then were sent to Lyle. He, in return, dispersed them to soldiers who lacked much correspondence from home. He was always getting some package from home, but he also knew there were a lot of boys over there that never heard from anyone. He just wanted to bring some joy to them. His time overseas was nearing an end and he was due to return home in March of 2005. He died in the crash of a CH-53E helicopter near Ar Rutbah, Iraq at age 30.
Marines
1st Battalion
3rd Marine Regiment
3rd Marine Division
III Marine Expeditionary Force
Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Burial is at Hannibal Cemetery in Hannibal, Texas
Born Feb. 7, 1980 in Fort Worth, TX
Died Jan. 26, 2005 in Ar Rutbah, Iraq
Saeed enlisted in the Marine Corps with hopes that he was “going to do his part in saving both people.” His father was an Iranian, his mother American. Saeed spent part of his early youth growing up in Iran and the later part in Pennsylvania and Texas. He played baseball and was a big Texas Rangers fan and had hopes of one day being a Fort Worth police officer. When he enlisted in 2003, it was his dream to not only help the military, but the people of Iraq. Both sides were his people. Assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, he left for Iraq in September 2004. He was on the front lines in the battle of Fallujah, helping secure the area for the elections and he brought humanitarian aid and food to the people. He was fulfilling his goal of helping both people. Saeed was one of 30 Marines killed when their helicopter crashed on January 25, 2005. His survivors include his mother Mary L. Travis; his father Saeed Jafarkhani-Torshizi Sr. and a half-sister.
Burial: Saint Charles Cemetery in Bethlehem, PA
Birth: December 15, 1970 – Abilene, Texas
Died: April 2, 2003 - Iraq
CWO 2 Jamar was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. He was killed when his UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed in central Iraq. Scott grew up in Sweetwater, Texas where he was a school leader and athlete. He was also a night disc jockey for a radio station while in school and graduated in 1989 from Sweetwater High School. After high school, he attended Southwest Texas State for a year before joining the military. Scott returned from an assignment in Korea in December and left for Kuwait in January. He loved being a military pilot and wanted to make the Army his career but he almost didn’t make it. He was initially turned down for being too tall in the torso. He served as a flight engineer on a Chinook helicopter then re-applied to flight school and was accepted. Before shipping out for the Gulf, Scott returned to Texas. He had just earned custody of his two boys and spent a couple of weeks with them. He didn’t want to leave his sons.
Burial: Holly Hills Memorial Park, Granbury, Texas