The Leaf Chronicle -- Two "Currahee" soldiers with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division were killed by roadside bombs in Baghdad Saturday in separate attacks.
Sgt. David Herrera, 25, of Oceanside, Calif., and Pfc. Brian J. Schoff, 22, of Manchester, Tenn., were both infantrymen assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment.
Herrera's wife, Tonya, who is originally from Harriman and lives in Clarksville, said her husband lived for his family and the Army.
"We met when I was in college seven years ago, and we'd been together ever since. We would have been married four years in July," said Mrs. Herrera, a special education teacher at Byrns Darden Elementary. "He was loved and respected, and he loved his girls. When people would meet him, once he smiled at you, you just always remembered him."
Sgt. Herrera is survived by a 3-year-old daughter, Emma, and Mrs. Herrera is expecting another daughter, Gabriella Lee, in about two months. She said the last time she talked with her husband was through the Web camera on Wednesday — three days before he was killed.
"He loved to hear Emma laugh and just to see her smile and to see her happy. He was all about family and taking care of his family. He was looking forward to coming home in April and seeing his baby girl and hanging out with his girls," she said, as she tried to hold back tears. "I was glad he was happy. He knew he was so loved."
Sgt. Herrera joined the Army in March 1998 — a month after his older brother, Staff Sgt. Marcus Herrera, entered the Army. From then on, the two brothers pretty much followed each other during their military careers, including Fort Campbell.
"We were both in 3rd Brigade. He was the Boxing Smoker champion during the Week of the Eagles in 1998," Marcus Herrera said proudly about his only brother and his best friend. The two used to practice boxing as kids in the gym set up by their father, Army Command Sgt. Maj. Marcos Herrera.
"He loved the Army, and he loved his job. We always wanted to go to war," said Marcus Herrera, a soldier assigned to a military intelligence unit at Fort Campbell.
But as the Army was a large part of David Herrera's life, his family was just as important, if not more.
"He was just a great, all-around guy, and if you needed something he would always help you. He always stood by his soldiers. He knew what he got himself into, and he knew the (risks)," Marcus Herrera said, frustrated with the way the enemy wages war against those trying to help. "(The insurgents) don't fight fair out there."
In addition to his wife, father and brother, Sgt. Herrera is also survived by his mother, Madalena Herrera, of Oceanside.
In 2003, Sgt. Herrera went into Iraq with the 502nd Infantry Regiment at the onset of the war and later volunteered for the 506th in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 3.
I would like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
"Currahee"(We Stand Alone")506th Inf. Motto