Kenny F. Stanton Jr., Army, Private 1st Class -- Rest In Peace

Kenny F. Stanton Jr., 20

Army, Private 1st Class
Based: Waegwan, South Korea
57th Military Police Company
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: October 13, 2006
Baghdad (southwest of), Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Hemet
High School: Hemet High (Hemet)
Burial: Riverside National Cemetery

Kenny until this day it seems as if you are still fighting out in Iraq. I can not let you go but sometimes I tell myself that you are really gone. I am always bummed during this time of year and I wait until the month of October passes by along with all the pain.....
Your Cousin Danny Boy
R.I.P
— Daniel Herrera
September 27, 2009 at 8:57 p.m.

From the LA Times:

When Army Cpl. Kenny Francis Stanton Jr. first tried to enlist in the military after graduating from Hemet High School, he was rejected because of his childhood asthma and seizures.


But that didn't deter his determination to serve.


He reapplied -- without citing the childhood afflictions that hadn't recurred for years -- and he was off to Army boot camp in Missouri. He spent a year with the 57th Military Police Company in Waegwan, South Korea, before his unit shipped off to Iraq in July. He forged deep bonds with three other young soldiers in his unit who called themselves "the four brothers."


While patrolling Baghdad on Oct. 13, Stanton was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee just two weeks after his 20th birthday. Two others were injured.

Stanton's father, Kenny Francis Stanton Sr., said his son had hoped to use military education benefits to earn his bachelor's degree in education and one day return to teach English at his high school alma mater. He hadn't been satisfied by the single semester of junior college courses he took at Mount San Jacinto College before enlisting.

"He'd say, 'Dad, when I'm done, I can do my military service and go to college,' " the elder Stanton recalled. He said his son had hoped to start classes once he completed his one-year tour in Iraq and shipped out to Hawaii for the remainder of his five-year enlistment.

The 5-foot-6 Stanton ran cross country and wrestled in high school. He was popular with girls -- he named his MySpace.com website "Romeo_Casanova"...

Read more about Army Private First Class Kenny F. Stanton Jr. here, here and here with a Guest Book here.