Jonathan Castro, Army, Corporal -- Rest In Peace

Jonathan Castro, 21

Army, Corporal
Based: Ft. Lewis, Wash.
73rd Engineer Company, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: December 21, 2004
Forward Operating Base Marez, Mosul, Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Corona
High School: Centennial High (Corona)
Burial: Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside

The day before he died, Jonathan Castro phoned his parents from Mosul, Iraq, saying that he couldn't talk long because he was exhausted from 18-hour days. The strain of being in a combat zone could be heard in his voice, but the 21-year-old Army specialist tried to be reassuring and upbeat.

"He sounded like he was ready to drop," said his mother, Vicki Castro of Corona. "He needed to take a shower and get some rest, but he just wanted to say 'hi' and tell us he loved us and that he wasn't going to die in a foreign country. We were so happy to hear from our son."

Eighteen hours later, on Dec. 21, Castro was killed when a suicide bomber attacked an Army dining tent. The blast killed 22 people, including 18 Americans, in the deadliest attack yet on a U.S. military installation in Iraq


Castro's three-year enlistment was to have ended last June. Shortly beforehand, the Army notified him that his active service was being extended as part of a stop-loss program because new recruits were not enlisting in sufficient numbers.


His mother was on the Internet when she saw a news bulletin about the explosion in the Mosul mess hall. "I saw the tent and just knew my son was in that tent," she recalled. "I said, 'Please, let him only be hurt,' as the body count went up."

In addition to his parents, he is survived by seven half brothers. He was buried at Riverside National Cemetery.

Read the entire LA Times article about Army Corporal Jonathan Castro here, finding more at Freedom Remembered and you'll find pictures here.

Jorge and Vickie Castro, parents of Spc. Jonathan Castro, stand in the kitchen, Thursday, Dec. 23, 2004, in their home in Riverside, Calif. Castro, 21, was killed Tuesday Dec. 21, 2004, in an explosion in a mess hall. He was assigned to the 73rd Engineer Company, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash. (AP Photo/The Press-Enterprise, Carrie Rosema) ** MANDATORY CREDIT **