Manuel A. Ceniceros, Marines, Lance Corporal, Grunt -- Rest In Peace

Manuel A. Ceniceros, 23

Marines, Lance Corporal
Based: Camp Pendleton
Regimental Combat Team 1 Headquarters Company, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: June 26, 2004
Anbar province, Iraq
Married
Gender: Male
Hometown: Santa Ana
High School: Valley High (Santa Ana)
Burial: Santa Ana Cemetery, Santa Ana

A painfully shy teenager who hadn't distinguished himself in school, Ceniceros gained confidence and a sense of identity in the Marines. His fellow Marines were his brothers. His dog, a Labrador mix named Tank, was usually wearing some kind of Marine Corps bandanna.

"My husband, for most of his life, had never felt like he owned anything or stood for anything, because he was so quiet and so shy. When he was in high school, he wasn't known for anything at all. But when he became a Marine, it was like he owned that."
— Elizabeth Ceniceros, widow

Manuel A. Ceniceros is also survived by his mother, Angela De La Cruz; his aunt, Stella Gallegos; and cousins Alfred Gallegos Jr., Victor D. Gallegos, Daniel R. Gallegos and Freddy Gallegos.

More about Lance Corporal Manuel A. Ceniceros here and here.