IN MEMORIAM

Compiled By Christian Hill | The Olympian • Published October 10, 2007

Comments (0)

48 Fort Lewis soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division made ultimate sacrifice in 2006-07.

Also: Behind the headlines | Today's front page (.pdf) | Honoring the fallen interactive | Special report: Coming home

Sgt. James C. Akin, 23, Albuquerque, N.M.

Akin had such a fierce ambition to be president, he enlisted in the Army so he could speak on the campaign trail about his experiences as a war veteran.

He died June 3 in Thania when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. All of the men killed in that blast were assigned to 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment.

Cpl. Juan M. Alcantara, 22, New York

Alcantara's daughter was 6 weeks old when he died.

On Sept. 17, Citizenship Day, Alcantara's mother, his two sisters and his fiancee, Sayonara Lopez, holding small U.S. flags, accepted his certificate of posthumous citizenship at a ceremony attended by dozens of newly minted Americans, according to The New York Times. He was from the Dominican Republic. His family had made the request, and a U.S. representative helped put the citizenship application on the fast track, according to the newspaper. Alcantara enlisted in September 2004 and arrived at Fort Lewis a few months later.

He and three other brigade soldiers died Aug. 6 in Baqouba when insurgents detonated a home rigged with explosives while the soldiers were inside. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment.

Cpl. Matthew L. Alexander, 21, Gretna, Neb.

Alexander had been married less than three months when his wife learned she was a widow.

Kara Alexander and her husband graduated from the same high school in Gretna, a town of about 5,000 southwest of Omaha. He was a percussionist in the band; she played flute. Nearly three years after graduation, they married on Valentine's Day while he was home on leave from Iraq.

Her husband had a heart of gold and "truly was our angel on Earth," she said in a written statement.

"Above all, he made it his life's work to take care of those he loved," she said. "He fought for a cause he believed in and ... died for a country he loved."

Next page >>