Cpl Jonathan Castro
Born: May 22, 1983 in Orange County, California
Died: December 21, 2004 in Iraq
Cpl. Jonathan Castro of Corona, California joined the Army for the college tuition after declining his parents’ offer to pay for his schooling. He had a gift for technical innovation and creativity and wanted a future in engineering. Working with shop teachers in high school, he had built an electric guitar he designed and as a high school student, he built a full size electric car from scratch. He was planning to rebuild an old Ford Thunderbird he had bought. He liked to ride mountain bikes and go to the beach. He had completed his three year commitment with the Army, but had been extended under the military’s stop loss program and sent to Iraq in October. He died in Mosul, Iraq, when a suicide bomber entered his dining facility and detonated an improvised explosive device at age 21.
Army
73rd Engineer Company
1st Brigade
25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team)
Fort Lewis, Washington
Burial is at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California Sec 56B Site 80
