Mick R. Bekowsky, Marines, Corporal -- Rest In Peace

Mick R. Bekowsky, 21

Marines, Corporal
Based: Camp Pendleton
2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: September 6, 2004
Fallouja (9 mi. north of), Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Concord
High School: Concord High (Concord)
Burial: Memory Gardens Cemetery, Concord, Calif.

A world away from his little sister, Mick R. Bekowsky sounded tired and homesick in calls home from Iraq, but he always asked Haley, 12, how her softball team was doing. "They were eight years apart and had two different lives," Brian Bekowsky said of his children. "They both thought they'd have plenty of time to be brother and sister."

The 21-year-old assaultman from Concord, Calif., was killed Sept. 6 by a car bomb in Iraq's Anbar province. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton.

The Marine liked to race cars, hunt and fish. His father said he wanted to be "the life of the party."


"He was a macho 21-year-old boy who thought he was immortal," said his mother, Joan Bekowsky.


Bekowsky enlisted a month after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, shortly after graduating from high school. He was killed weeks before he was due to return home.


"He was the boy next door, the boy you went to high school with, the guy who works at McDonald's," the Marine's father said.


"We picture them as soldiers carrying M-16s, but they're boys."

— Associated Press

Mick R. Bekowsky

Read more about Marine Corporal Mick R. Bekowsky in the LA Times here and visit his Guest Book.

Marine Corporal Mick R. Bekowsky previously remembered at Boom3 on Sunday, September 5, 2010.

Also remembered today, Army Specialist Marques I. Knight and Marine Corporal Derek L. Gardner.

Marques I. Knight, Army, Specialist -- Rest In Peace

Marques I. Knight, 24

Army, Specialist
Based: Ft. Hood, Texas
1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom
Died: September 6, 2008
Aliabad, Afghanistan
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: San Juan Capistrano
Burial: Gardens of Memory Cemetery, Kinsey, Ala.

In late July [2008], while he was in Afghanistan, his sister sent him an e-mail: "Hey buddy. Please be safe and make it home. I dunno if ur still into the church thing -- but pray too."


Less than two months later, Spc. Marques I. Knight, 24, was fatally shot Sept. 6 in Aliabad in northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province.


An uncle, Shelp Knight, said the Army told him that his nephew and fellow soldiers were ambushed while on foot patrol near the Pakistani border.


A day after the ambush, Shelp Knight, who lives in Dothan, Ala., got a call from his brother Charles with the news. "I hung up," he said. "I didn't want to hear it."


To his sister, Knight was a beautiful and funny man, who would be your best friend, once he warmed to you. As Shelp Knight put it: "He's a kid everybody needs to know."
Marques Knight was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas. It was his second tour of duty.
He had long been interested in the military. He participated in the ROTC at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla. Family members also recalled that, as a boy, Knight dreamed about drawing and animation -- a hobby he loved but relegated to his free time.

Knight cared as much for his body as for his drawings. He ordered nutritional supplements and weight gainers to supplement his weightlifting, he told his sister in an e-mail. He would ask Conroy to ship him foods high in protein -- tuna, sardines and salmon. He wanted to bulk up his lean, 6-foot-5 frame. Knight would easily run nine to 12 miles a day and lift weights twice a day, she said.

In addition to his sister and adoptive parents, Jerry and Addie Knight, he is survived by a large extended family, including brothers Jerry G. Knight and Jeffery D. Knight.

Read more about Army Specialist Marques I. Knight here and here.


Army Specialist Marques I. Knight previously remembered at Boom3 on Tuesday, September 14, 2010.

Nathan Kalani Bouchard, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Nathan Kalani Bouchard, 24

Army, Sergeant
Based: Ft. Stewart, Ga.
3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: August 18, 2005
Samarra, Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Wildomar
High School: Elsinore High (Wildomar)
Burial: Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside

From the LA Times:

"I am a soldier in the United States Army, 21 years old, and [now in Iraq]," begins a letter to the editor published in the Riverside Press-Enterprise in April 2003, signed by a serviceman named Nathan Bouchard.

"You ask, 'Why, why are we in the Middle East? Why don't we leave Saddam alone? Why do we even get involved?'.... It is because somebody has to.... Because, as you know, problems do not go away just by closing your eyes or turning your back or burying your head in the sand.

"This freedom we have was not free."

Bouchard, 24, died in Samarra, Iraq, on Aug. 18 when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee.

Raised in Wildomar, in Riverside County, Bouchard was on a second and extended tour of duty in Iraq. He enlisted in the Army in May 2002, spurred by patriotic sentiments after the 2001 terrorist attacks, his parents said.

"Nathan believed in what he was doing. He wrote, and he told us about the good things that they were doing in Iraq," said Alida Bouchard, his mother, from the family's new home in Cottonwood, Ariz.

Bouchard's father, John, a longtime Navy serviceman, said his son spoke to them vividly about escorting his commanding officer into Iraqi towns and villages, about talking to community leaders and fulfilling their requests for sanitation pickups and new schools.

"He enjoyed kids especially," John Bouchard said. "And he enjoyed being over there in the land that was of the Bible -- Samarra -- seeing it firsthand."

Nathan Bouchard was born in 1981 in Dallas. He graduated from Lake Elsinore High School in 1999 and was a starting defensive lineman in his senior year.

He surfed, hiked and went mountain biking. Often, Bouchard hiked "in slippers," which were more comfortable for him, said his father, chuckling.

Bouchard, assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division in Ft. Stewart, Ga., also was a devout Christian. He was an active member of The Fold, a Christian youth group in Wildomar. He attended Cornerstone Community Church with his family.

Bouchard last saw his parents and siblings in May, when he visited Cottonwood before returning to Iraq. His younger brother, Sean, 21, also is in the Army and was home when the family received news of Nathan's death.

A funeral service is scheduled for Saturday at Cornerstone Community Church in Wildomar. The Bouchards said they have received messages of support and condolences from as far away as South Africa, many prompted by their son's letter to the editor.


They said they would always remember Nathan as a positive-thinking, energetic man who did anything he could for friends and family when he saw them unhappy. Bouchard's faith, his parents said, continues to give them strength.


"Nathan was a Christian first and a soldier second," John Bouchard said. "That's our reassurance -- our peace that we have -- that he was where God wanted him to be."

Read more about Army Sergeant Nathan Kalani Bouchard in 

Valley News, 

Military Times,

and visit Nathan K. Bouchard's Guest Book.

++++++++++++++++++++

Also killed were:

- Staff Sgt. Jeremy W. Doyle, 24, of Chesterton, Md.

- Spc. Ray M. Fuhrmann, II, 28, of Novato, Calif.

- Pfc. Timothy J. Seamans, 20, of Jacksonville, Fla.

Felipe de Jesus Sandoval-Flores, Marines, Lance Corporal -- Rest In Peace

Felipe de Jesus Sandoval-Flores , 20

Marines, Lance Corporal
Based: Camp Pendleton
1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: April 2, 2006
Al Asad (near), Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Los Angeles
High School: Locke High (Los Angeles)
Foreign Country of Birth: Mexico
Burial: Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City

"The single and most prevalent fear of most men is death," he wrote for his high school English class just months before he graduated.

His essay, somber and filled with references to Scripture, underscored Sandoval-Flores' recognition, even as a teenager, that, as he wrote, "Tomorrow is never promised."

The essay ends with this: "Death scares me, but it is coming, ready or not...."

Looking back, his sister said she believes the serious conversations that she and her younger brother often had were meant to prepare her and the rest of the family for the worst.


A devout Catholic, Sandoval-Flores may have been prepared for death, but he also embraced life, family and friends said.


"Felipe was always a giving kind of person, a good heart," said another longtime friend, Raoul Gonzalez, 22.


Whether it was letting friends win at video games, counseling young parishioners on the Catholic rite of confirmation or helping out the homeless, Sandoval-Flores savored every day, Gonzalez said.


Once, Gonzalez remembered, the two were out distributing food, clothes and hot chocolate to the poor when Sandoval-Flores spotted a boy about 9 or 10 years old in line with the others.


"Felipe had this new sweater, not even 2 weeks old, and when he saw this young kid, he didn't hesitate, he took off his sweater and gave it to him," Gonzalez said.

At his funeral, more than 200 family members and friends watched Sandoval-Flores' body carried to his grave at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City by a white carriage drawn by two white horses.

"Words cannot explain how much we miss him," his parents wrote in a letter to The Times. "We are proud as [his] parents because, despite being poor, we were able to raise a good young man with a big heart who loved and respected his fellow human beings."

In a separate letter, his younger sister, Michelle, wrote: "April 2, 2006, I recognized true sorrow; my brother was not coming home."

But through the pain, she wrote, "I am glad Felipe is no longer living in that hell called war."

Do read the entire LA Times article about Marine Lance Corporal Felipe de Jesus Sandoval-Flores.
Find messages and remembrances at
Fallen Heroes and in Lance Corporal Sandoval-Flores' Guest Book.



Vicky Huynh grieves as she looks at a memorial for her fiance Lance Cpl. Felipe D. Sandoval-Flores (sp right) and other fallen serviceman and women from the 1st. Marine Logistics Group Forward during a memorial Service held Friday on Camp Pendleton. Vicky's fiancee, gave his life in Operation Iraqi Freedom.



Killed with Lance Cpl. Felipe D. Sandoval-Flores were:

Cpl. David Bass of Davidson, Tenn.

Lance Cpl. Patrick Gallagher of Duval, Fla.

Cpl. Brian St. Germain of Kent, Rhode Island

Staff Sgt. Abraham Twitchell of Yelm, Wash.

Cpl. Andres Aguilar Jr. of Victoria, Texas

Jose Angel Garibay, Marines, Corporal -- Rest In Peace

Jose Angel Garibay, 21

Marines, Corporal
Based: Camp Lejeune, N.C.
1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, II Marine Expeditionary Brigade
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: March 23, 2003
Nasiriya, Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Costa Mesa
High School: Newport Harbor High (Newport Beach)
Foreign Country of Birth: Mexico
Burial: Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside

I went to High School with Jose. We joined the Marines together and were in the same platoon in boot camp.

I remember 2 months into boot camp, he walked over to me one evening during the 20 minutes of liberty time we were given and he said, "How are you doing Harry?" I hadn't heard my first name said to me in over two months and it stunned me. He brought me back down to Earth and reminded me of the world that existed outside of that rather unpleasant, at the time, situation we were both in.

He was an incredible friend and a truly dedicated Marine.

— Harry Agdayan
November 12, 2010 at 7:58 p.m.

Three men in uniform knocked on Simona Garibay's door in Costa Mesa early Monday, walking past U.S. and Mexican flags proudly planted in her front lawn.


At first she was mystified that these strangers were asking for her by name.


"I didn't know who they were," she said, too upset to say much more. "Then they told me the horrible news."


Her 21-year-old son, Marine Cpl. Jose Angel Garibay, had been killed in combat in Iraq, the Marines told family members. Late Monday, the Department of Defense confirmed that Garibay was one of seven Marines killed in action Sunday near Nasiriyah, Iraq, in some of the heaviest fighting of the war to date. 

Also killed were Cpl. Jorge A. Gonzalez, 20, of Los Angeles
Sgt. Michael E. Bitz, 31, of Ventura
Lance Cpl. David K. Fribley, 26, of Lee, Fla.
Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Jordan, 42, of Brazoria, Texas
2nd Lt. Frederick E. Pokorney Jr., 31, of Nye, Nev.
Lance Cpl. Thomas J. Slocum, 22, of Adams, Colo.

Garibay, a stocky former football player from Newport Harbor High School, joined the Marines three years ago, right after graduation, handling missiles and mortars for a weapons platoon. He was shipped out to the Middle East three months ago.

The Marine, whose family moved to the United States from Jalisco, Mexico, when he was a baby, is the first Orange County serviceman to be killed in combat.

He wrote to this mother often and sent money home almost every month, family members said. In his last letter, which arrived from Kuwait on March 11, he asked for a package of his favorite Mexican candies and a CD of popular ranchera singer Vicente Fernandez.

Do read the entire LA Times article about Marine Corporal Jose Angel Garibay here,
find more at Wall Dads,
Fallen Heroes and the Orange County Register.

Also remembered here today is Marine Corporal Randal Kent Rosacker.

We are freedom's answer to fear. We do not bargain with terror. We stalk it, corner it, take aim and kill it.

— Jose Angel Garibay, in final letter to his girlfriend

Kristofer D.S. Thomas, Army, Private 1st Class -- Rest In Peace

Kristofer D.S. Thomas, 18

Army, Private 1st Class
Based: Ft. Benning, Ga.
3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment
Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom
Died: February 18, 2007
southeastern Afghanistan, Afghanistan
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Roseville
High School: Roseville High (Roseville)
Burial: Newcastle District Cemetery, Newcastle, Calif.

When Kristofer Thomas was 15, he told a recruiter that he wanted to join the Army.

For most kids, it could have been a boyhood whim. But Thomas never wavered from his pledge. He graduated from high school in the Sacramento Valley city of Roseville a semester early so he could enlist a month after his 17th birthday. Within months, he became the youngest-ever member of the Army Rangers, an elite, highly trained special operations unit, and soon was deployed to Afghanistan.

On Feb. 18, the 18-year-old private first class and seven other special operations soldiers were killed when their CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter crashed in Afghanistan's Zabol province, south of Kabul. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Ft. Benning, Ga….

In addition to his mother and brother Nicholes, Thomas is survived by his stepfather, Eddie Getz; his father and stepmother, Rodney and Ramona Thomas; and a younger brother, Mason Thomas of Lincoln, Calif.

Do read the entire LA Times article about Army Private 1st Class Kristofer D.S. Thomas here, and find more at Military Times and the Ranger Lead The Way fund site and visit Private Thomas's Guest Book.

According to a Defense Department release, also killed in the crash were:

* Pfc. Ryan C. Garbs, 20, of Edwardsville, Ill.; B Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga.

* Spc. Brandon D. Gordon, 21, of Naples, Fla.; B Company, 2nd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.

* Chief Warrant Officer 3 Hershel D. McCants, Jr., 34, of Arizona; B Co., 2nd Battalion, 160th.

* CW3 John A. Quinlan, 26, of New Jersey; B Co., 2nd Battalion, 160th.

* Spc. Travis R. Vaughn, 26, of Reinbeck, Iowa; B Co., 2nd Battalion, 160th.

* Sgt. Adam A. Wilkinson, 23, of Miskayuna, N.Y.; B Co., 2nd Battalion, 160th.

* Air Force Tech Sgt. Scott Duffman, of La Cueva, N.M., was assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Air Force Base, N.C.

Pfc. Ryan C. Garbs -- Rest In Peace
Spc. Brandon D. Gordon -- Rest In Peace
Chief Warrant Officer Hershel D. McCants -- Rest In Peace
CW3 John A. Quinlan -- Rest In Peace
Spec. Travis R. Vaughn -- Rest In Peace
Sgt. Adam A. Wilkinson -- Rest In Peace
Air Force Tech Sgt. Scott Duffman -- Rest In Peace

Eric U. Ramirez, Army National Gurard, Specialist -- Rest In Peace

Eric U. Ramirez, 31

Army National Guard, Specialist
Based: National City, Calif.
670th Military Police Company
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: February 12, 2004
Baghdad (Abu Ghraib), Iraq
Married, 2 children
Gender: Male
Hometown: San Diego
High School: Mount Dora High School (Mount Dora, Fla.)
Burial: Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, Fla.

Spc. Eric U. Ramirez's last letter from Iraq arrived in Florida two weeks later, as his wife and parents were making plans for his funeral.

"That letter said to please pray for his wife, Tracey," said his father, Feliciano Ramirez, who lives in Mascotte, Fla. "He was always thinking of his family and other people."

Ramirez, who was assigned to the 670th Military Police Company, Army National Guard, in National City, Calif., was killed Feb. 12 in Abu Gireb, according to military officials. The 31-year-old soldier was attacked with small-arms fire, a rocket-propelled grenade and an improvised explosive device.
Ramirez attended Mount Dora High School in Florida, where he played soccer, baseball and football. After graduating in 1991, he joined the Navy and was stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas; Europe; and San Diego.


After leaving the Navy in 2000, he enlisted in the California National Guard, and went to work for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, serving warrants.


In San Diego, he also met his future wife, Tracey Benson. The couple traveled to Florida in August 2001 to be married in his father's church.


"That was the last time I saw him," his father said. "He had been so busy fulfilling his military obligations."

Ramirez was deployed to Iraq in January 2003. He returned briefly in December for the birth of his second child, Chase Eric Charles. The couple's daughter, Isis, is 2.


Ramirez was due to return home in 42 days, when he would have been discharged from the National Guard, his family said.


He also is survived by his maternal grandparents, Juan and Juana Gutierrez of Naranja, Fla.

Read the entire LA Times article about Army National Gurard Specialist Eric U. Ramirez here. Do find more at Military Times and at Fallen Heroes and at the California Army National Guard site.

Friends and relatives attend the military burial of 31-year-old Army Spc. Eric U. Ramirez at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Fla.
Photo from USA Today

Jesus O. Flores, Jr., Army, Specialist -- Rest In Peace

Jesus O. Flores, Jr., 28

Army, Specialist
Based: Ft. Carson, Colo.
569th Mobility Augmentation Company, 4th Engineer Battalion
Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom
Died: October 15, 2009
Kandahar, Afghanistan
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: La Mirada


There is remarkably little available online regarding Army Specialist Jesus O. Flores, Jr.
There are, however, many memories of him here, including this one:

FLO ILL SURELY MISS YOU AND I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU. I HEARD THE NEWS TODAY IT STRUCK ME LIKE A BAD JOKE BECAUSE I JUST TALKED TO YOU 2 WEEKS AGO WHILE YOU WERE ON LEAVE. I REMEMBER WE WERE REMINISCING OUR DAYS WHEN WE WERE STUCK INSIDE THE SHIP. KEEP AN EYE ON US FLO..REST IN PEACE KOSA.
— Brian P.
October 21, 2009 at 8:35 a.m.

From Military Times:

Army Spc. Jesus O. Flores Jr.
Died October 15, 2009 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

28, of La Mirada, Calif.; assigned to the 569th Mobility Augmentation Company, 4th Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colo.; died Oct. 15 at Arghandab River Bridge, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an IED. Also killed were Spc. Daniel C. Lawson, Staff Sgt. Glen H. Stivison Jr. and Pfc. Brandon M. Styer.

Army Specialist Jesus O. Flores, Jr. is mentioned here, here, here and here.

October 22, 2009
Spc. Flores couldn't make it to Fiesta Latina at the Obama White House...
By Jeannie DeAngelis

What a thrill to be invited to Latin Music night at the White House. Every Latino who mattered was there from J.Lo, to Eva Longoria-Parker, to Sonia Sotomayor. Unfortunately, Spc. Jesus O. Flores Jr. of La Mirada, California was not in attendance -- he was busy dodging the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Please read the entire article in the American Thinker:

Nicholas P. Olson, Army, Specialist -- Rest In Peace

Nicholas P. Olson, 22

Army, Specialist
Based: Ft. Lewis, Wash.
2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: September 18, 2007
Muqdadiya, Iraq
Married, 1 child
Gender: Male
Hometown: Novato
High School: Novato High (Novato)

A 22-year-old Army specialist from Novato was one of three soldiers killed by a bomb in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, the Pentagon said today.

Spc. Nicholas P. Olson died Tuesday after an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit during combat operations, the Defense Department said. No additional details about the incident were released.

He is survived by his wife and 10-month-old child, said assistant principal Dan Curtaz of Novato High School, which Olson attended when he lived in Marin.

Olson graduated from San Marin High School, a continuation school, after attending Novato High, Curtaz said. Curtaz taught physical education at the time and remembered Olson as a "good kid."

Olson enlisted in the Army in October 2004 and was assigned to the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, known as the Stryker Brigade Combat team, out of Fort Lewis, Wash.

He was decorated with the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

Also killed in the explosion were Spc. Joseph N. Landry III, 23, of Pensacola, Fla., and Spc. Donald E. Valentine III, 21, of Orange Park, Fla.
-- From the San Francisco Chronicle

Read more about Army Specialist Nicholas P. Olson here, here and here.

Nicholas P. Olson's father, Paul Olson (IJ photo/Jeff Vendsel)

Nicholas P. Olson's mother, Anita Moran, stands in her front yard Thursday in Cobb. (Lake County Record-Bee/Mandy Feder)

Marques I. Knight, Army, Specialist -- Rest In Peace

Marques I. Knight, 24

Army, Specialist
Based: Ft. Hood, Texas
1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom
Died: September 6, 2008
Aliabad, Afghanistan
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: San Juan Capistrano
Burial: Gardens of Memory Cemetery, Kinsey, Ala.

In late July [2008], while he was in Afghanistan, his sister sent him an e-mail: "Hey buddy. Please be safe and make it home. I dunno if ur still into the church thing -- but pray too."


Less than two months later, Spc. Marques I. Knight, 24, was fatally shot Sept. 6 in Aliabad in northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province.


An uncle, Shelp Knight, said the Army told him that his nephew and fellow soldiers were ambushed while on foot patrol near the Pakistani border.


A day after the ambush, Shelp Knight, who lives in Dothan, Ala., got a call from his brother Charles with the news. "I hung up," he said. "I didn't want to hear it."


To his sister, Knight was a beautiful and funny man, who would be your best friend, once he warmed to you. As Shelp Knight put it: "He's a kid everybody needs to know."
Marques Knight was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas. It was his second tour of duty.
He had long been interested in the military. He participated in the ROTC at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla. Family members also recalled that, as a boy, Knight dreamed about drawing and animation -- a hobby he loved but relegated to his free time.

Knight cared as much for his body as for his drawings. He ordered nutritional supplements and weight gainers to supplement his weightlifting, he told his sister in an e-mail. He would ask Conroy to ship him foods high in protein -- tuna, sardines and salmon. He wanted to bulk up his lean, 6-foot-5 frame. Knight would easily run nine to 12 miles a day and lift weights twice a day, she said.

In addition to his sister and adoptive parents, Jerry and Addie Knight, he is survived by a large extended family, including brothers Jerry G. Knight and Jeffery D. Knight.

Read more about Army Specialist Marques I. Knight here and here.