From our staff and news services
U.S. troops who have died recently in Iraq and Kuwait: May and his crew were in the 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, based at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif. Brenda Reese May, who spent two years in the Marines as a secretary, said she met her husband, Donald C. May Sr., when both were stationed at Quantico Marine Corps Base in northern Virginia. The elder May served two tours in Vietnam, earning two purple hearts, a bronze star and a Navy cross. He died in a fishing accident in 1991. Brenda Reese May said her son was interested in the military from an early age, joining the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets from age 12 to 18. He also was a police Explorer. He joined the Marine Corps the year he graduated from high school and spent four years in the military police, serving in the Middle East for the last few months of the first Gulf War in 1991. He left for two years, serving in the Reserves, then "got back in as a tank commander, just like his dad," his mother said. "He was a clean-cut American boy," his mother said. "When he decided to go into the military, I was proud. Always scared, but proud. I know the drill, but it's still hard." She added: "He was my only son and, as proud as I am to be a Marine, to be married to a Marine, and for my son to become a Marine, he was still my only son, he was all I had." May's wife, Deborah, is 7 1/2 months pregnant with a boy, due May 16. She went into premature labor Friday after learning that her husband was missing, but doctors were able to halt the delivery. "She's totally devastated," Brenda Reese May said. She said her son has a stepdaughter, Mariah, who will be 7 on Wednesday, and a son Jack, who will be 2 on April 18.
Lance Cpl. Patrick T. O'Day, 20, of Santa Rosa, Calif. Patrick T. O'Day married his high school sweetheart shortly before heading overseas and was looking forward to the birth of their first child, due in September. "They were a young couple with a lot of dreams and hopes," said his father, Tim O'Day. "I think he would've made a wonderful father. He always had a lot of patience, very understanding." O'Day, 20, of Santa Rosa, Calif., and based at Twentynine Palms, died in combat March 25. He was drawn to the Marines because of their allure as one of the toughest of the military branches, said his wife, Shauna O'Day. During boot camp, he developed stress fractures in his legs. But rather than accept a medical discharge, he spent six months in a rehabilitation platoon, then returned to boot camp and completed his training as a tank gunner. "He was proud to be a Marine," his wife said. "He liked their reputation and he liked their discipline."
Pfc. Francisco A. Martinez Flores, 21, of Los Angeles Francisco A. Martinez Flores moved to California from Mexico at age 3 and joined the Marines so he could go to college. His mother said he had many aspirations, including becoming a detective or stock broker. Martinez, 21, of Los Angeles, died March 25 when his tank went over a collapsing bridge and tumbled into the Euphrates River. He was granted U.S. citizenship after he died. In his last letter, Martinez, the eldest of four children, told his family not to be afraid. "He said, 'Pray for me,"' his mother, Martha, recalled. Mrs. Martinez said she was not able to say goodbye to her son. She was in Mexico Feb. 17 because her father died; two days later her son left from Twentynine Palms. "I'm a mother with a broken heart. I had so much love for my son and I will always be proud of him. He died for liberty," she told mourners at his funeral. "That's the kind of guy he was. ... He always thought about someone else first," said his widow, Mychaele. White, 24, of Brooklyn and based at Camp Pendleton, died March 29 when his military vehicle rolled into a canal. White had wanted to move back to Brooklyn and join the Fire Department or pursue a career in law enforcement, relatives said. "He was a fine gentleman, he set a good example, he led by example, so we have a lot to thank God for," said James Barnett Sefus, who was a spiritual mentor to White, as well as his martial arts instructor.
Marine Lance Cpl. Thomas Blair, 24, Broken Arrow, Okla. Thomas A. Blair was a free spirit who tempered his shyness with a strong will, someone who would "give the shirt right off his back if he could help you," in the words of older brother Al Blair. "He said he was proud of what he was doing, proud of where he was at, and he was doing the job he'd been trained to do, which was defend this country," said Al Blair, a Marine staff sergeant. Blair, 24, of Broken Arrow, Okla., disappeared during fighting March 23, and was later confirmed killed in action. Blair joined the Marines at 19 and was based in Cherry Point, N.C., a quick drive from his brother. He often visited Al Blair's family for home-cooked meals and the chance to play with his brother's children. As a sophomore in the high school band, Blair sewed a military insignia to his band uniform, just like senior band members. "You'd give him an inch ... and he'd just want to take it to the next step," said Darren Davis, Blair's high school band teacher. Suarez' wife of nearly a year, Sayne, said her husband wanted to fight in Iraq to prevent an attack on the United States. "He always told us that he would rather go over there so that those people don't come here and hurt us," said Sayne, who said she was notified of her husband's death Friday by two Marines. "I love him and we're very proud of him." The couple have a 16-month-old son, Erik. A native of Tijuana, Mexico, Suarez' father brought the family to the U.S. in 1997 to fulfill his son's wish to become a Marine, the North County Times reported. Fernando Suarez de Solar said he blamed himself for his son's death. "This never would have happened if I didn't come to this country," Fernando Suarez de Solar said. Suarez enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2001 after graduating from Valley High School. He was based at Camp Pendleton and was deployed on Feb. 5. "He put his family first," Sayne Suarez said. "He was always helpful to others and he was just a person that everyone could easily love," she said. "He could have been anything but he chose to be a soldier and an officer because of his strong beliefs," his family wrote in a prepared statement distributed by the police department Sunday. Cawley leaves behind a wife, Miyumi, an 8-year-old son, Cecil, and a 6-year-old daughter, Keiko. Cawley served for 12 years in the Marines, traveling around the world. He met his wife, Miyuki, in Okinaway, Japan, while serving there. He also served a proselytizing mission with the Mormon church in Fukuoka, Japan. "He knew that his life was not the end and that we will all be together again in a far greater place," the letter said. Fellow police officers said Cawley, who was also a member of the SWAT team, was called up to the Marines more than a year ago and had been stationed at Camp Pendleton. Salt Lake City police spokesman Sgt. Dave Hoffman said Cawley had no reservations about going to war. "He was a natural leader ... someone who loved his family deeply and his country," Hoffman said. Detective Mark Schuman, Cawley's partner on the Salt Lake City force for 18 months and one of his closest friends, had just received a letter from Cawley a few days ago. At the time of his writing, Cawley was in Kuwait, awaiting further instructions. "He was a loyal and trusting friend, and he was an outstanding officer," Schuman said. "He was a very patriotic man, and he loved the Marine Corps, and he felt it was his duty to protect us and protect America."
Cpl. Michael Curtin, 21, Howell, N.J. In his last letter home, Michael E. Curtin told his family that he had been promoted to corporal sooner than expected, but that it didn't matter to him because he believed his place was with his family. His 12-year-old sister, Stephanie Curtin, said her brother used to promise he would always protect her. "When I first heard that his life was over, I cried and cried," she said. "I'm so proud of what he did for us. He was a brave man and a fabulous brother, son, cousin and grandson." Curtin, 23, of Howell, N.J., and based at Fort Stewart, died March 29 in a suicide bomber attack at an Army checkpoint. Curtin joined the Army in May 2001 after his high school graduation. As a teenager, Curtin played for the high school football team. He was, said coach Corey Davies, "the kind of person you'd always want to be part of your team."
Marine Cpl. Patrick Nixon, 21, Gallatin, Tenn. Nixon, one of eight Marines missing since their unit was ambushed while trying to secure a bridge March 23 near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, was found dead, Marine officials and his family said. The Marines notified the family in person Sunday morning, said his father David Nixon. He said a candlelight prayer vigil planned for his son at City Hall would still go on Sunday evening in support of the troops. "We appreciate everyone's prayers and thoughts during this difficult time," he said. "Please continue those for the rest of the troops." Nixon, who had talked of becoming a history teacher after finishing his service in the Marines, was based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the past two years. A 2000 graduate of Nashville's Overton High School, he enlisted in the Marines with two of his friends while still in high school and went to basic training that summer. Military service is a tradition in the Nixon family. Relatives have served in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. David Nixon is a Vietnam vet, and his two older sons are veterans as well. David Nixon last spoke to his youngest son several weeks ago. As he was about to send some smokeless tobacco to Spain for Nixon's stopover en route to the Middle East, the Marine called and said not to bother. "He said, 'Dad, we're well past Spain.' And I said, 'Where are you?' He said, 'Dad, I can't tell you."'
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Menusa, 33, Tracy, Calif.
Main casualties page
Staff Sgt. May
Lance Cpl. O'Day with with Shauna
Martinez Flores
Lance Cpl. White
Lance Cpl. Blair
Lance Cpl. Suarez
Marine Staff Sgt. James W. Cawley with his wife, Miyumi; son, Cecil, 8; and daughter, Keiko, 6.
Cpl. Curtin
Cpl. Nixon
Joseph Menusa originally intended to join the Air Force after graduating high school. He changed his mind after he saw girls swarming around a uniformed Marine recruiter.
Sgt. Menusa with wife, Stacy, and Joshua.
He chose to join the Marines and later became a Marine recruiter himself.
Menusa, a 33-year-old gunnery sergeant and veteran of the 1991 Gulf War, died in Iraq during a March 27 ambush, his stepfather, Mike Kenny, said.
More than 400 well wishers held a memorial service Tuesday to bid farewell to the Philippines-born soldier who was posthumously awarded U.S. citizenship last week.
Among the speakers was Menusa's younger brother David, a 30-year-old Marine drill instructor in San Diego.
"One thing I regret is that night he took off, I never told him I love him. He told me, 'I'll be back, don't worry bro, I'll be back. It'll be over in three months,"' David Menusa said. "He came back, I had to meet him in a box."
Parents of young men Menusa recruited also expressed their gratitude -- how Menusa encouraged recruits to build self-confidence by getting good grades and seeing the world beyond their own community.
Military authorities in January assigned Menusa to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, at Camp Pendleton. He left for the Middle East on Feb. 5, telling his wife of seven years, Stacy Menusa, not to worry.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Vann Johnson Jr.
He loved basketball, he loved acting, he loved to draw -- and he loved helping people. Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Vann Johnson Jr., a Navy hospital corpsman, died Tuesday while tending to wounded troops in Iraq, his family said Thursday.
Johnson, who was serving with the 1st Marine Division, would have celebrated his 26th birthday on Monday.
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 Petty Officer Johnson |
"He never understood why anyone would mistreat anyone else. He had a big heart. And he is my hero," his father, Michael Vann Johnson Sr., said Thursday by telephone from the family home in Little Rock, Ark. "He died for the freedom that we have, the freedom that we love."
The senior Michael Johnson, a retired air traffic controller from the Air Force, said his son joined the military after graduating from the University of Central Arkansas. The corpsman married his wife, Cherice, three years ago. The couple lived in San Diego before Michael was deployed to Iraq. They had no children.
Michael Johnson Sr. said his son was athletic and liked to play guard in basketball because he liked taking possession of the ball.
"But he also liked to play forward because he liked the competition for the rebound," his dad said. His son was a natural mimic who enjoyed performing and dreamed of becoming an actor, his father said. At 6-foot-1, the son was tall enough to look down on his namesake.
"That was the only thing that he ever did that I told him not to do -- he grew taller than me," his father recalled Thursday.
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 Maj Stone |
In Kuwait, waiting to go to war, Maj. Gregory L. Stone, 40, of Boise, Idaho, twice stood in line for more than two hours to place calls home to his sons, Alex, 11, and Joshua, 7. The message was simple, straightforward. "He told them he was OK, and he missed them," Tonya Stone, his former wife, recalled.
Family members recalled that Stone, an Air National Guardsman who was born in Idaho but grew up in Portland, Ore., had always been fascinated with flying. "That was his dream, ever since he was small," said Ann Kibec, his stepsister.
He took aviation science courses at Benson High School in Portland and two years after graduation enlisted in the Air Force in 1983. He wanted to become an officer and enrolled at Oregon State University. He became a navigator and weapons system operator aboard B-1 and B-52 bombers.
Although he left the Air Force in 2000 to work for a military contractor, he joined the Air National Guard and was called up for duty in Iraq. He died last Tuesday in a military field hospital in Kuwait of injuries suffered in a weekend grenade attack in which a U.S. serviceman is accused.
Capt. Scott Seifert, 27, of Easton, Pa., also was killed and 14 other Americans were injured when grenades were hurled into three tents at Camp Pennsylvania, the Kuwait headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division's First Brigade.
Stone's father, Richard Stone, of Riggins, Idaho, recalled that his last contact with his son was an e-mail message on March 22. He said things were going well, and that he was a little nervous but was ready for his mission in Iraq.
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 Cpl. James |
A Marine from Illinois, Cpl. Evan James drowned while trying to cross a canal in Iraq.
James, of La Harpe, died while attempting to cross the Saddam Canal in southeastern Iraq on Monday, said Gunnery Sgt. James Howard of the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center in Peoria.
Howard said the Marines were on a mission to secure a water point as part of the war in Iraq.
James, 20, was studying to be a physical fitness trainer at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, and joined the Reserves to help pay for college, said his aunt, Diane Kornegay of La Harpe.
He went overseas in February and last talked to his girlfriend about two weeks ago, his aunt said.
James played football and basketball at La Harpe High School, where he graduated in 2000, said Charles Apt, the school's principal.
"He was just a normal kid, someone you feel good having over there doing that job and we're proud of him for doing it," Apt said.
Spc. Greg Sanders
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 Spec. Sanders |
Army Spc. Greg Sanders, the son of a Navy sailor, was enamored with military life since he was a very young.
Sanders, who the Defense Department announced was killed in action Monday, began wearing combat fatigues at age 2, his uncle Rick Knight said.
In his junior year at Hobart High School, where he ran in track and cross country, Sanders committed to join the Army immediately after graduation.
"He wanted to be a soldier. He was born to be soldier," said his mother, Leslie Sanders.
Military authorities told Sanders' family that he was killed in a sniper shooting, Knight said from the family's home in Hobart, Ind.
Sanders, 19, was an ammunition loader with a tank platoon assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division in Fort Stewart, Ga. He was married, with a 14-month-old daughter.
The family received a letter from him Monday, Knight said.
"His morale was great, and he said he anticipated coming home in June or July," Knight said. "He was very supportive of what his job was."
Marine Lance Cpl. Michael J. Williams, 31, Phoenix
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 Lance Cpl. Williams |
Williams, among a group of 2nd Expeditionary Brigade Marines missing since March 23, was found dead near Nasiriyah, fiance Heather Strange said Saturday.
Williams, a 60mm mortar forward observer from Phoenix, apparently was caught in a sand storm and lost radio communication, Strange said. Family members were not given further details.
"I couldn't be more proud of him," Strange said. "He's a hero."
Thinking he wasn't doing enough with his life, Williams had left his flooring business to his brother and enlisted in February 2001, Strange said. Fellow Marines nicknamed him Omar, short for "Old Man River," because he was 10 years older than most in his unit.
Williams proposed to Strange by e-mail from his ship on the way to Kuwait. Strange said her sister is married to Williams' brother, Joe, and both sets of siblings had been set up by their mothers, who are friends.
Army Pfc. Howard Johnson II, 21, Mobile, Ala.
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 Pfc. Johnson |
Johnson was killed Sunday as the 507th Maintenance Company clashed with Iraqi forces Sunday.
"He was God's gift to us and the Lord has taken him away," said his father, the Rev. Howard Johnson, who pastors Truevine Missionary Baptist Church in Prichard, Ala.
Johnson, 62, said he and his wife, Gloria, have two daughters and had waited 17 years for a son. Mrs. Johnson, her face wet with tears, said, "We had no idea war would break out and we would lose our son."
Friends and family members quietly moved in and out of the Johnson home Wednesday, sharing condolences and watching the soldier's basic training videotape on a big-screen TV. It showed him jogging through the woods with other soldiers.
Called "Junior" around the house, Pfc. Johnson worked at a grocery store during high school. He brought his friends' shoes home to shine them when they couldn't afford shoe polish.
Johnson had hoped his son, who was in ROTC in high school, would attend technology college after graduation. His son chose active duty in Army instead.
Johnson said he didn't like having his son in Iraq because he didn't agree with the war.
"I feel that sometime there can be better choices. For me, I think this could have been handled through a diplomatic approach with enough time. And maybe it could have been solved another way," he said. "He told me, 'Daddy, I have to do it."'
