“I have been in the company of heroes...” 2/7 memorializes 13 fallen
Before leaving home for his second tour to Iraq, Staff Sgt. Daniel Clay left a letter with his family and an instruction to open it only in the event of his death. Clay was killed in action in Iraq on Dec. 1, 2005.
http://www.op29online.com/articles/2006/04/29/news/news02.txt
Cpl. Heidi E. Loredo
Combat Correspondent
“But here is something tangible,” wrote Clay. “What we have done in Iraq is worth any sacrifice. Why? Because it was our dutyŠWithout duty, life is worthless.”
Clay and 12 other Marines from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, who perished during their deployment to Iraq while performing their duties as Marines, were honored at a memorial service April 21 in the presence of their families and brothers-in-arms. The War Dogs deployed to Iraq for the second time in July and returned to Twentynine Palms late January.
“Every Marine we honor here this morning was a great and selfless man drawn to the Corps by a sense of duty,” said Lt. Col. Joseph a. L'Etoile, commanding officer, 2/7. “A duty they were faithfully and bravely performing when they were taken by the enemy, an enemy that attacks hope and the human spirit.”
The first casualty the battalion suffered was Pfc. Ramon Romero, 19, of Huntington Park, Calif., Aug. 22, 2005, when the vehicle he was in was struck by an improvised explosive device near Fallujah. Romero's mother said her son aspired to study criminology after his enlistment and wanted to become a police officer.
The lives of two other Marines were taken by the enemy Nov. 12 from an IED when they engaged enemy forces in Al Amiriyah. Lance Cpl. David A. Mendez Ruiz, 20, of Cleveland, Ohio, was on his second tour to Iraq. The youngest of eight children was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and moved to the United States when he was 6 years old.
Lance Cpl. Scott A. Zubowski, 20, of Manchester, Ind., was on his second tour to Iraq. Prior to his departure, Zubowski married his high school sweetheart, Klancey Eberly.
Disaster struck the battalion on Dec. 1, in one of the worst tragedies to occur to a Combat Center unit. Ten Marines died while on patrol from an IED fashioned from several large artillery shells.
Gone but not forgotten are:
Lance Cpl. Adam W. Kaiser, 19, of Naperville, Ill.
Lance Cpl. Andrew G. Patten, 19, of Byron, Ill.
Lance Cpl. Holmason, 20, of Surprise, Ariz.
Lance Cpl. Robert A. Martinez, 20, of Splendora, Texas
Lance Cpl. Craig N. Watson, 21, of Union City, Mich.
Lance Cpl. David A. Huhn, 24, of Portland, Mich.
Lance Cpl. Scott T. Modeen, 24, of Hennepin, Minn.
Cpl. Anthony T. McElveen, 20, of Little Falls, Minn.
Sgt. Andy A. Stevens, 29, of Tomah, Wis.