 Newsday -- A Queens soldier who was just 18 died in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle, military officials said.
Pfc. Le Ron Wilson, who appears to be the youngest local soldier to lose his life in the conflict since the start of the war in 2003, was injured and died July 6, the U.S. Department of Defense said Tuesday.
 Wilson, who was assigned to the 26th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, in Fort Stewart, Ga., leaves grieving relatives in New York, his adopted home, and his native Trinidad and Tobago.
Military officials Tuesday night declined to release detailed information about the explosion in which Wilson was killed along with Sgt. Gene L. Lamie, 25, of Homerville, Ga., who was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division in Fort Stewart, Ga.
Friends and relatives in New York gathered in his mother's Springfield Gardens home Tuesday night to swap stories about Wilson's personality, his dreams and his giving ways.
"We had a very open relationship, very close," said Simona Francis, his mother. "He was like a buddy. We almost didn't have a mother-son relationship."
She said her son was always fascinated with things military, like guns and camouflage, a pattern he preferred even as a young boy. She recalled Wilson would go on the Internet to learn as much as he could about guns, and she recalled his joy when he enlisted right after graduating from high school
"Wow! I found my dream job," she remembers him saying after he got his assignment.
She said she learned of his death Friday when an officer visited her.
"The moment I saw the uniform, I knew," she said, adding that she was initially in denial, yelling at the officer: "Why are you coming here? Tell me this isn't true!"
Friends recalled Wilson's lighter and playful side, saying he was often a bright spot in a lackluster day at school.
"When class was so boring, he'd just sit and kick out a ... freestyle ," said Corey Bradley, 18, who met Wilson in the ninth grade at Thomas Edison High School. "He just said anything just to make people smile."
The two teenagers used to play handball and football together, and they last communicated via the Internet on July 4.
"Le Ron always took care of himself," Bradley said. "You would never, ever think that anything would ever happen to him because he was so smart, always took care of himself, always watched his back."
When he found out about Wilson's death, Bradley said, "I just didn't want to believe it."
Wilson's father told a newspaper in his native Trinidad that his son had longed to serve in the Army and follow in his footsteps. Lawrence Wilson is a Cadet Force major in Trinidad and Tobago, according to the Trinidad and Tobago Express.
"Le Ron was always a little soldier," Wilson told the newspaper.
"He reached the age to make his own decisions so I could not talk him out of it," Lawrence said of his son's decision to join the Army. "I could not even convince him to join as a commissioned officer. His dream was to go through the ranks."
Le Ron Wilson was born in in Trinidad and Tobago and came to live with his mother in Queens when he was 11, the newspaper reported.
He was in the military for only a few months. He had trained as a weapons specialist, and was considered the top performer in a battalion of more than 600, twice being named soldier of the month.
"I don't know how he ended up in Iraq," Lawrence was quoted as saying. "I felt it was a bit too early. Le Ron was a bit too green for that duty." |
I would like to say thank you to you and the other soldier who was also kiled in that blast for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
"Rock Of The Marne"(3rd ID Motto)