Guy Stanley Hagy Jr., Army, Staff Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Guy Stanley Hagy Jr., 31

Army, Staff Sergeant
Based: Ft. Hood, Texas
1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: September 13, 2004
Baghdad, Iraq

Married, 2 children

Gender: Male
Hometown: Lodi
High School: Tazewell High School (Tazewell, Va.)
Burial: Cherokee Memorial Park, Lodi, Calif.

It was the simple things that meant so much to Army Staff Sgt. Guy Stanley Hagy Jr. when he returned last month from Iraq on a two-week leave.The former California resident spent time playing video games with his wife and 15-year-old stepson, bowled a near-perfect 279 game and ordered the biggest steak on the menu at Texas Road House in Killeen, Texas, near his home base of Ft. Hood.

Hagy, known by family members and friends as Stan, was described as an unfailingly kind and cheerful careerist with the Army who always looked out for others.

"Stan was the kind of man who couldn't see anyone in need of help and not assist them," Grady said. "Because of his helpful nature, people were drawn to him wherever he went."

When another soldier traveled, Hagy and his wife would volunteer to assist his family until his return. They often invited single people on base over for a home-cooked meal.

Hagy was born and raised in Thompson Valley, a small farm and ranch community in southwest Virginia, where he was one of six children. As a teenager, Hagy helped his father on his job working with horses at a local ranch.

"He was an avid outdoorsman. He loved hunting and fishing, particularly with his father," said Goldie Kiser, another aunt through marriage. "The family is devastated. This is their oldest child." 

Besides his wife, Elysia, 33, and her son, Robert Fulton, Hagy is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth, 13; his father, Guy Sr.; his stepmother, Victoria Hagy; and siblings Andrew, Chris, Jeffrey, Joe and Luciann.
Read the entire LATimes article about Army Staff Sergeant Guy Stanley Hagy Jr. here and read more here.

Victor H. Toledo-Pulido, Army, Corporal -- Rest In Peace

Victor H. Toledo-Pulido, 22

Army, Corporal
Based: Ft. Benning, Ga.
3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized)
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: May 23, 2007
Nahrawan, Iraq
Married, 1 child
Gender: Male
Hometown: Hanford
Foreign Country of Birth: Mexico
Burial: Grangeville Cemetery, Armona, Calif.

Toledo-Pulido's mother, Maria Gaspar, said that she tried to dissuade her son from joining the Army but that he was determined to volunteer. "I told him I did not approve. We all told him," she said. "He was my youngest; he was my baby. And since he was born, I overprotected him. [But] he was grown up, and he wanted to mature and make his own decisions."

Growing up in the Central Valley, he was keenly aware that he was not an American citizen, but "he loved this country," his mother said. "He said, 'This is my country.' "

Toledo-Pulido was about 7 years old when a smuggler helped him and his older brother and mother cross over the mountains along the California border into the United States. He became a legal resident in 1999. Like many undocumented immigrants, he worked hard jobs at a young age. He toiled in the fields of the Central Valley with an uncle, picking grapes and other crops. Later, he took jobs as a restaurant cook.

Family members said they didn't know why, but Toledo-Pulido always showed an interest in joining the military.

Gaspar said she last saw her son in March as he and hundreds of soldiers left Ft. Benning for Iraq. He told her that no matter where he went, she would always be with him. He went over the good times and the bad times of their lives, as if paging through a family album.

"He talked like he knew something was going to happen," his mother said.
…
In the early morning hours of May 23, Toledo-Pulido and others in his platoon were awakened and given a mission to retrieve a military vehicle that had just been hit by an explosive. After concluding the mission, the team started driving back to their base. Minutes into the trip, their vehicle was hit by a tremendous explosion. 

Army Capt. Troy Thomas, who was in the vehicle, was sent flying through the air. Miraculously, he was unscathed. But when he looked back to check on the others in the vehicle, he saw Toledo-Pulido's lifeless body slumped over the steering wheel. 

Another soldier, Cpl. Jonathan D. Winterbottom, 21, of Falls Church, Virginia, was also mortally wounded in the blast.

"It is hard to explain the rush of emotion in a time like that," Thomas wrote in an e-mail to The Times. "People should not have to experience that feeling. It is because of brave human beings like Victor that war is only witnessed by a few so that the majority can live free and never experience what I felt that day."

Thomas said he would never forget him or the American values he stood for. He said Toledo-Pulido was a "Mexican citizen voluntarily serving in our armed forces at a time when you hear more about illegal immigration on TV than the war itself."

"What does it take to prove your worth as an American?" Thomas asked. "Well, if you ask me ... Victor Toledo-Pulido showed his worth by serving his nation and his family."
...
Gaspar said she is proud of her son, an "immigrant who gave his life for this country, and who did so with joy."


In addition to his mother and Yosio, he is survived by his wife, Christi; his son, Isak; his stepfather, Paz Gaspar Noriega; his brother Gaston Toledo-Pulido; and his sister, Maria McGee.

Read the entire LA Times article about Army Corporal Victor H. Toledo-Pulido here. 

Find more about Victor H. Toledo-Pulido at the Iraq Page 

and visit Corporal Toledo-Pulido's Guest Book.

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

Cpl. Jonathan D. Winterbottom, 21, 

of Falls Church, Virginia

 Rest In Peace

Read more about Corporal Winterbottom here 

and visit his Guest Book.

William Timothy Dix, Army, Specialist -- Rest In Peace

William Timothy Dix, 32

Army, Specialist

Based: Ft. Lewis, Wash.

14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: April 27, 2008

Camp Buehring, Kuwait

Single

Gender: Male

Hometown: Culver City
High School: Park View High School (South Hill, VA)
Burial: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.

"My brother was all about coming up, same as me." 

-- Christopher Dix

Dix's fellow battalion members remember his sense of humor and upbeat spirit, no matter what the circumstances.


During down time, he could inevitably be found wearing headphones and flailing away to some silent rhythm in his bunk area, Capt. Cobey Warren recalled in Dix's eulogy.


"When I asked him why he danced so much, he just said with that big smile of his, 'That's how we roll in Cali,' " Warren said, according to remarks released by Ft. Lewis.

On April 27, Dix and his battalion were at Camp Boering, Kuwait, awaiting deployment to Iraq later that day.

Dix missed the 8 a.m. muster. The Army told his brother that his body was found two hours later, alone next to his service rifle...

At services in Dix's honor, his superiors said he had taken his own life.

[At the time of this article] Dix's death remains under investigation.

In the meantime, his family is still looking for answers.

"M-16s go off all the time," Stephanie said. "Who's to say he wasn't stomping bugs and it went off?"

"He wouldn't do something like that," Christopher said of suicide.

At a closed-casket ceremony in South Hill, Christopher said he insisted on making sure the body in the coffin belonged to his brother. Dix's head was wrapped, his brother said, but there on his right biceps was the tattoo of a chain with a dangling smiley face.


It was Timmy, all right.


Spc. William Timothy Dix, 32, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in May.


In addition to his brother and sister, Dix is survived by his mother, Barbara Moore Dix, of Palmer Springs, Va., and father, Wilhelm Dewey Dix, of Florida.

Do read the entire LA Times article about Army Specialist William Timothy Dix here. 

Find more at Arlington Cemetery and find messages and remembrances of 

Specialist William T.  Dix at Fallen Heroes.

Members of the Old Guard carry the casket of Army PFC William Timothy Dix to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery in May 2008. One of the duties of the Old Guard is to perform various honors during military burials at Arlington. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

You will find this picture in the Washington Times 

with the editorial 

"Elegy for a Dead Soldier."

Army Specialist William Timothy Dix -- Requiescat In Pace

Robbie M. Mariano, Army, Private -- Rest In Peace

Robbie M. Mariano, 21

Army, Private

Based: Ft. Hood, Texas

3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: January 5, 2006

Najaf, Iraq

Single

Gender: Male

Hometown: Stockton
High School: Stagg Senior High (Stockton)

The 21-year-old from Stockton was among five soldiers killed Jan. 5 when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee in Najaf, south of Baghdad, according to the Defense Department.

Also killed were Maj. William F. Hecker III, 37, of St. Louis; Sgt. Johnny J. Peralez Jr. , 25, of Kingsville, Texas; Capt. Christopher P. Petty, 33, of Vienna, Va.; and Sgt. 1st Class Stephen J. White, 39, of Talladega, Ala.

All were assigned to the Army's 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Mariano's father, Bob, said his son joined the Army in November 2004, shortly after graduating from Stagg High School, and soon found a second family among his fellow soldiers.

"He was always upbeat about the war and believed in what he was doing over there," said the elder Mariano, a Stockton police sergeant. "The Army was his new family. I talked to him about 10 hours before he died. He said he was doing fine."

Bob Mariano said his son had planned to leave the service in 2008, attend college on the GI Bill and possibly follow in his father's footsteps with a career in law enforcement.

In addition to his parents, Robbie Mariano is survived by a 19-year-old brother, Bobby.

Read the entire store about Army Private Robbie M. Mariano here and find more here,  visit Private Mariano's Guest Book, and listen to an NPR story here.

Guy Stanley Hagy Jr., Army, Staff Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Guy Stanley Hagy Jr., 31

Army, Staff Sergeant
Based: Ft. Hood, Texas
1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: September 13, 2004
Baghdad, Iraq
Married, 2 children
Gender: Male
Hometown: Lodi
High School: Tazewell High School (Tazewell, Va.)
Burial: Cherokee Memorial Park, Lodi, Calif.

It was the simple things that meant so much to Army Staff Sgt. Guy Stanley Hagy Jr. when he returned last month from Iraq on a two-week leave.The former California resident spent time playing video games with his wife and 15-year-old stepson, bowled a near-perfect 279 game and ordered the biggest steak on the menu at Texas Road House in Killeen, Texas, near his home base of Ft. Hood.

Hagy, known by family members and friends as Stan, was described as an unfailingly kind and cheerful careerist with the Army who always looked out for others.

"Stan was the kind of man who couldn't see anyone in need of help and not assist them," Grady said. "Because of his helpful nature, people were drawn to him wherever he went."

When another soldier traveled, Hagy and his wife would volunteer to assist his family until his return. They often invited single people on base over for a home-cooked meal.

Hagy was born and raised in Thompson Valley, a small farm and ranch community in southwest Virginia, where he was one of six children. As a teenager, Hagy helped his father on his job working with horses at a local ranch.

"He was an avid outdoorsman. He loved hunting and fishing, particularly with his father," said Goldie Kiser, another aunt through marriage. "The family is devastated. This is their oldest child." 

Besides his wife, Elysia, 33, and her son, Robert Fulton, Hagy is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth, 13; his father, Guy Sr.; his stepmother, Victoria Hagy; and siblings Andrew, Chris, Jeffrey, Joe and Luciann.
Read the entire LATimes article about Army Staff Sergeant Guy Stanley Hagy Jr. here and read more here.