Saturday, June 24 2006 @ 05:27 PM EDT
Contributed by: River97
Views: 1,562
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 www.kristv.com -- FORT HOOD, Texas -- Two Fort Hood soldiers died in Iraq this week, the Department of Defense announced Friday.
Sgt. Sirlou C. Cuaresma , 25, of Chicago, died Wednesday in Baghdad of a non-combat related cause, the Defense Department said. Army Sgt. Jason J. Buzzard , 31, of Constantinople, Calif., died in Baghdad on Wednesday of injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his cargo truck during combat, the Defense Department said.
Relatives of Cuaresma who spoke to reporters outside the family's home Friday night said Cuaresma joined the Army in 2000 and was on his third tour of duty. He was to come home for good in October. He was assigned to the 68th Engineer Company, 62nd Engineer Battalion, 13th Containment Command (Expeditionary) at Fort Hood. His death is under investigation.
"The last time I talked to him two weeks ago, he said 'Dad, I will call you on your birthday,'" said Cuaresma's father, Bernadino Cuaresma. "My birthday was the 21st and he died the 21st in Iraq."
Over the last seven months, Buzzard's family in California and Texas huddled around their computers every morning to talk to him in Iraq.
But there was one thing his mother, Marilyn Buzzard of Ukiah, Calif., never discussed with him.
"We never talked about Iraq," she said Friday. "He would talk to his dad about it. Those talks meant everything to me."
He had five months left in his tour of duty, and after eight years in the Army, he was debating whether to leave the service, Marilyn Buzzard said. He had wanted to join the military as a teenager, but his dad, Jerry, persuaded him to wait. He leaves behind a wife, Michele, and two children, Michala, 12, and Tristin, 9.
"He was a very strong family man," his mother said. "He was loving, caring. He was strong. He was our hero."
Buzzard was raised in Ukiah and was attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Hood. |
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I would like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your families, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
A grateful citizen