Cody R. Legg, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Cody R. Legg, 23

Army, Sergeant
Based: Ft. Drum, N.Y.

1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry)

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: June 4, 2008

Tikrit, Iraq

Single

Gender: Male

Hometown: Escondido

High School: San Pasqual High (Escondido)

Burial: Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego

His joy of life, his smile, could light up a room. He just had a zest for life that was contagious.

— Bunnie Jacquay, mother

When it came time to play, Cody Legg had only one game: army.

His mother, Bunnie Jacquay, recalled: "All the kids in the neighborhood would say, 'What do you want to do, Cody?' He'd say, 'Let's play army!' And they'd say, 'Again?' "

Legg was born in Escondido and spent his childhood climbing trees, playing flashlight tag and planning missions. Camouflage and face paint became a uniform he rarely took off. It was no surprise when he enlisted in the Army in his senior year at San Pasqual High School in Escondido.

"Literally, you could find him and walk by him, and he was always in that mode: wanting to be an Army guy," said his father, Dave Legg.

But in April, while home on leave from his second tour in Iraq, Cody Legg spoke hopefully of his post-service plans: to become a firefighter or emergency medical technician, buy a house and start a future with his girlfriend.

On June 4, barely two months later, Army Staff Sgt. Cody Legg, 23, died of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked in Sharqat, about 50 miles from Mosul, Iraq, by forces using small-arms fire and hand grenades.

Legg had been assigned to the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y. He was one of three soldiers killed in the attack.
...
Also killed were Sgt. Shane P. Duffy and Spc. Jonathan D. A. Emard.
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Legg had been trying to save two soldiers in his unit. Jacquay recounted how Army officials described Legg's efforts to her: "He yelled, 'Man down! Man down! I'm going in,' and just took off to try to get them out of harm's way."
...

Jacquay said her son loved simple pleasures.

"The first thing he said when he came home in April on leave was, 'I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a hot shower,' " she said, laughing. "He was a real down-to-earth guy."

Legg was buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. In addition to his parents, he is survived by a large extended family: two half-brothers, D.C. and Derek Legg; two stepbrothers; a stepfather; and a stepmother.

Read the entire LA Times story about Army Sergeant Cody R. Legg here. Visit Sergeant Cody R. Legg's Guest Book.

Cody Legg with his mom at Disneyland, 1988

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Army Sergeant Shane P. Duffy -- Rest In Peace

Army Specialist Jonathan D. A. Emard -- Rest In Peace

Army Sergeant Cody R. Legg previously remembered at Boom3.

Astor A. Sunsin-Pineda, Army, Specialist -- Rest In Peace

Astor A. Sunsin-Pineda, 20

Army, Specialist

Based: Ft. Riley, Kan.

4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: May 2, 2007

Baghdad (southern part), Iraq

Single

Gender: Male

Hometown: Long Beach

High School: Wilson High (Long Beach)

Foreign Country of Birth: Honduras

A week after her son was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, Lesby De Paz received his Mother's Day card in the mail.

"I want to tell you how much I appreciate everything you've given me," Army Spc. Astor Anibal Sunsin-Pineda, 20, had written in Spanish two days before his death.

"I send you this card -- simple, but with lots of love. I would like to be with you on this special day. God bless you."

Now, his mother says, he is with her forever.

"He was a good son," she said recently as family members and friends gathered to pay their respects at the flag-adorned Long Beach house she shares with her husband and three other sons.

"He was a happy guy, and that's how I want to remember him," she said. "He always tried to make people laugh, always tried to help them. I am very proud."

Sunsin-Pineda was trying to help someone May 2 when he volunteered to take another man's post on what should have been his day off. The truck he was driving struck a roadside bomb, killing him and another soldier. Also killed was 1st Lt. Ryan P. Jones.

A combat engineer, Sunsin-Pineda was assigned to the 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kan.

"I still think it's a dream," said Julio De Paz, the stepfather who raised Astor for most of his life. "I wake up in the morning and expect to see my son next to me. He just wanted to serve his country."

Read the entire LA Times article about Army Specialist Astor A. Sunsin-Pineda here and find more in LA Indymedia. Visit Specialist Astor A. Sunsin-Pineda's Guest Book.

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1st Lt. Ryan P. Jones -- Rest In Peace

Kyle A. Colnot, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Kyle A. Colnot, 23

Army, Sergeant

Based: Ft. Hood, Texas

1st Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: April 22, 2006

Iskandariya, Iraq

Single

Gender: Male

Hometown: San Dimas

Burial: Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, Covina Hills

From the Pasadena Star News:

ARCADIA - U.S. Army Sgt. Kyle A. Colnot was described as a young man who knew what his life was about and thought he was making a difference by serving in Iraq.

Colnot, 23, of San Dimas and three other soldiers were killed April 22 in Baghdad when a bomb exploded near the Humvee they were riding in, causing a fire.

Also killed were: Pfc. Jacob H. Allcott, Pvt. Michael E. Bouthot and Spc. Eric D. King.

His funeral was held Saturday at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Arcadia. Colnot attended Arcadia High School part of his sophomore and junior years.

More than 300 people attended the service, including more than 100 members of the Patriot Guard Riders, flag-waving Vietnam vets who travel around California on motorcycles attending the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We want to pay our respects to what we refer to as a fallen hero and his family," said Jerry Zimmerman, a member of the group. He said the Riders attend a service every week somewhere in California.

The Rev. Roger Sonnenberg said as far as Colnot was concerned, life "was about service and making a difference. He was motivated by the satisfaction of serving. If you're not willing to lay down your life, you don't belong in the military."

Colnot's dress uniform hung on a rack behind his flag- draped coffin as music played and photographs depicting his life flashed on a screen.

They showed him as a blond infant and teen, playing with friends, siblings and his parents, fishing, swimming, playing his guitar, in Halloween outfits, posing next to his car and, finally, with fellow soldiers in Iraq. As he matured, his hair went from blond to brown and he acquired several tattoos. Colnot joined the Army in May 2000 and served in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

He re-enlisted in July 2004, knowing he would likely be sent to Iraq, which he was in November. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 67th Armored Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas.

Denise Colnot, Kyle's mother, said her son's death has not dampened her support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Following the hourlong service, Colnot was buried with military honors at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, Covina Hills.

In an interview last week, Denise Colnot said, "It's important to remember he gave his life, he did not lose it."

Read more about Army Sergeant Kyle A. Colnot
in the LA Times,

the Whittier Daily News

and Fallen Heroes.

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Pfc Jacob H. Alcott -- Rest In Peace

Pvt. Michael E. Bouthot -- Rest In Peace

Spc. Eric D. King -- Rest In Peace

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Also remembered today:

Corporal Patrick D. Tillman -- Rest In Peace

Joel K. Brattain, Army, Private 1st Class -- Rest In Peace

Joel K. Brattain, 21

Army, Private 1st Class

Based: Ft. Bragg, N.C.

1st Battalion, 504th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: March 13, 2004

Baghdad (southeast area), Iraq

Married

Gender: Male

Hometown: Yorba Linda

High School: Esperanza High (Anaheim)

Burial: Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, Orange

Snowboarding, skateboarding and just being kids. As a friend it hurts to know I'll never see him again, but he truly is a hero and he won't be forgotten.

— Sean Viele

Last March, Joel Brattain joined the Army and became a paratrooper. Last fall, he married his high school sweetheart, Andrea Del Campo, on the sand in Laguna Beach. In January, he shipped off to Iraq. "It was a maturing process," his brother said. "He had gone off adventuring and this and that, and it was time for him to mature. He was becoming a man."

On March 13, Army Pfc. Joel K. Brattain, 21, and two other soldiers --  Staff Sgt. Clint D. Ferrin and Sgt. Daniel J. Londono -- were killed in Baghdad when their vehicle was struck by the blast of a roadside explosive.

Kris Brattain said his brother's decision to join the Army probably was driven both by pragmatism and patriotism. "First and foremost, he loved Andrea. He really wanted to provide for her," he said.

But also, "9/11 touched him like it touched everybody," he said, pointing out that his brother had graduated months before the terrorist attacks. "When you become 18 and you're out of school, I think your eyes open to the world, and you ask yourself, 'What am I going to do with my life?' "

Being a paratrooper was a logical step for someone who loved adventure and the outdoors, his brother said. "He wasn't going to be a computer technician," Kris Brattain said. "He was a paratrooper. He had his wings and he loved it."

He said he would miss a brother who tagged along with him for much of his life. "He was my little brother, and we were close our whole lives," Kris Brattain said. "He didn't let things get to him, because you come to find out life is short. He lived life to the fullest."

In addition to his wife and brother, Brattain is survived by his father, Gary; his mother, Elaine Clark; and a 9-year-old half brother, Brandon Clark.

Read the entire LA Times article about Army Private 1st Class Joel K. Brattain here, find more at Fallen Heroes and Military Times and the War Heroes Page, visit Private Brattain's Guest Book and go to Wall Dads for more pictures and stories about Joel K. Brattain.

Joel K. Brattain

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Daniel J. Londono

Clint D. Ferrin

Chad Gonsalves, Army, Sergeant 1st Class -- Rest In Peace

Chad Gonsalves, 31

Army, Sergeant 1st Class
Based: Ft. Bragg, N.C.
3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group
Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom
Died: February 13, 2006
Dihrawud, Afghanistan
Married, 3 children
Gender: Male
Hometown: Turlock
Burial: Turlock Memorial Park, Turlock, Calif.

"I knew from the day I brought him home and rocked him -- I knew he was destined for the military," Marsha Gonsalves said of her elder son.

She was right. As a boy growing up in the Central Valley city of Turlock, Calif., Chad Gonsalves outfitted himself as a fantasy soldier in camouflage fatigues. As a young man who became a member of the Army's elite Special Forces, he wore the group's fabled green beret.

"That was his calling. He was just military all the way. He absolutely loved it," his mother said. "I guess if he had to die, that was the way to go."

Gonsalves, 31, a weapons sergeant first class assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Ft. Bragg, N.C., was on patrol with Afghan troops Feb. 13 in the volatile Dihrawud district of Afghanistan's Oruzgan province when his armored Humvee struck a roadside bomb, according to military officials and news reports. Gonsalves and three other U.S. soldiers were killed.

Also killed were Staff Sgt. Edwin H. Dazachacon; Staff Sgt. Clinton T. Newman and Sgt. Alberto D. Montrond.

Do read the entire LA Times article about Army Sergeant 1st Class Chad Gonsalves here, find pictures and story here and more at Military Times and visit Sergeant Gonsalves' Guest Book.


Brig. Gen. John F. Mulholland Jr. presents a U.S. flag to Marsha Gonsalves, who is holding her grandson Blake. Chad's brother Joshua and his father, Larry, are beside her.



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Sergeant Allberto D. Montrond

Staff Sergeant Edwin h. Dazachacon

Sergeant Clinton Thomas Newman

Michael Balsley, Army, Private 1st Class -- Rest In Peace

Michael Balsley, 23

Army, Private 1st Class
Based: Ft. Carson, Colo.
3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: January 25, 2007
Baghdad (east of), Iraq
Married, 1 child
Gender: Male
Hometown: Hayward
High School: Mount Eden High School (Hayward)
Burial: Hillcrest Cemetery, Porterville, Calif.

Army Pfc. Michael Christopher Balsley walked and talked like his father, a Vietnam veteran who would tell war stories and watch military movies with his young sons. For Halloween when he was 4, Balsley dressed as GI Joe with his father's patches sewn on by his mother.

A few years out of high school, Balsley became an Army cavalry scout, a tough assignment on the front lines of combat. His father asked him why.

"I guess I want my own war stories, Dad," Balsley replied.

After three months in Iraq, the 23-year-old soldier was on patrol east of Baghdad when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee. He was killed in the explosion along with Army Sgt. Alexander H. Fuller, 21, of Centerville, Mass….

Born June 30, 1983, Balsley grew up in Hayward, Calif., a middle-class town that hugs the rolling East Bay hills south of Oakland's gritty urban plain.

Jim Balsley said his son was "sensitive. He kind of looked at the world a little different than most." As a little boy, he climbed their home's dangerously high roof to reach the neighborhood birds. His father built him cardboard wings and let him jump off a backyard picnic table instead.

The family kept a mean-spirited Muscovy duck, Simon, who was a "devil in disguise. He used to attack everybody. But Mike was the only guy that Simon liked. He used to sit on his lap," said Balsley's older brother, James III, 25, of Alameda, Calif., who is in law enforcement.

Jim Balsley said he wants his son to be remembered as a patriot. "Michael was a real person," he said. "Michael was not just another name in the newspaper about another fallen hero defending the United States. Michael was a real individual."

Do read the entire LA Times article about Army Private 1st Class Michael Balsley here, see pictures and read more at his Guest Book and find more here and here and at Military Times.

Jose Regalado, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Jose Regalado, 23

Army, Sergeant
Based: Ft. Hood, Texas
3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: November 12, 2008
Mosul, Iraq
Married, 1 child
Gender: Male
Hometown: Los Angeles
High School: Woodrow Wilson Senior High (Los Angeles)
Burial: Holy Cross Cemetery, Pomona

Army Sgt. Jose Regalado, 23, who lived in the El Sereno area of Los Angeles, was one of two soldiers killed in Mosul, Iraq, when a uniformed Iraqi soldier approached them and opened fire.

The shooting occurred shortly before noon as a group of American troops were conducting a routine visit to an Iraqi security post, military officials said. The incident is under investigation.

Regalado was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Ft. Hood, Texas.

He got his first taste of military life as a freshman at Woodrow Wilson High School in Los Angeles when he traded in his childhood love for Mexican folk dancing and joined the Junior ROTC. The aspiring cadet soon decided to enlist in the Army immediately after graduating in 2003.

Two years later, Regalado was deployed on his first tour of Iraq, an experience that was both rewarding and sobering. When he returned to Kentucky a year later, Regalado focused on his other passion: disassembling and reconstructing cars...

Regalado carried his daughter's ultrasound photo throughout his deployment as a good-luck charm. After Jaimie was born, [wife] Sharri sometimes wore her husband's cologne so that their daughter would recognize her father when they finally met.


"Everything was family," Sharri said. "If someone needed anything, he was always on the ball. He was totally selfless."

In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by his father, Jose; his mother, Raquel; and siblings Elizabeth, Erik, Haydee and Wendy.

Read the entire LA Times article here and read more about Army Sergeant Jose Regalado here and here.

Also killed by the uniformed Iraqi soldier-coward was Army Specialist Corey M. Shea. Read more about Specialist Shea here.