Spc Wai Phyo Lwin
Born: February 1, 1978
Died: March 2, 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq
Spc. Wai P. Lwin of Queens, New York came to the United States in 1991 and was a naturalized American. He attended Benjamin Cardozo High School and although his parents wanted him to further his education, Wai really wanted to just join the military. He did, however work three years in the jewelry trade, at the American Gem Trade Association Laboratory (AGTA) in New York. But his dreams of signing on with the Army persisted until one day he came home and told his family that he had signed up with the National Guard. As a member of the Army National Guard he was a scout for the famous “Fighting 69th” Regiment, which had lost six New York area members since the fighting started in Iraq. His grandfather, Professor Maung Maung Kha, who was well-known in Burma as former president of the Rangoon Arts and Science University had died in Rangoon two weeks before his Wai was killed in Iraq. Wai had declined a bereavement leave to attend his grandfather’s funeral because he was already scheduled for a leave on March 29 2005. He was killed at age 27 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle in Baghdad. Also killed was Army Spc. Azhar Ali. Wai is survived by his parents May Thi Kha and Thein Zaw Lwin, and his brother, Khant Lwin among others.
Army
National Guard
1st Battalion
69th Infantry Regiment
Manhattan, New York
Burial is at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York – Sec R Site 2827J
The Spc Wai Phyo Lwin by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
