Spc Javier Antonio Villanueva
Born: August 22, 1980 in McLennan County, Texas
Died: November 24, 2005 in Tikrit, Iraq
Spc. Javier A. Villanueva of Temple, Texas was a 1998 La Vega High School graduate and then attended TSTC in Waco for two years. He began working at Ross Clothing store where he met his future wife and the two were married on May 15 2003. Later that fall he joined the Army on September 16th where he trained as a medical specialist. He was soon assigned to Fort Irwin. Javi had what could be affectionately called a unique sense of style. He didn’t care how he dressed even if he was mismatched. But when it came to his Air Jordan shoes, he meant business where there were the early morning shoe-buying trips. Whenever a new style of Air Jordans were introduced, he would be the first one at the store at 6 a.m. so he could go to school that same day wearing his new Jordans. He was a good kid. He wasn’t perfect, of course, but he was a good kid. Although he was quiet, he was also charismatic as far as getting people to rally behind him. His family remembers his sense of humor emerging when he and his cousins recorded CDs of themselves rapping. Or when they would dress up and take silly photos of themselves. Javi is the son of Wilfredo Rivera and Christine Villanueva. He is also survived by his wife, Felicia, and their daughter, Talihia among others. Javi died at age 25 in Asad, Iraq, of injuries sustained Nov. 23 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his dismounted patrol during combat operations in Hit, Iraq.
Army
2nd Squadron
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
Fort Irwin, California
Burial is at Waco Memorial Park in Waco, Texas
The Spc Javier Antonio Villanueva by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
