US troops who have died while serving in Iraq and Kuwait
By APThursday, January 7, 2010
US troops killed in Iraq and Kuwait
Marine Sgt. Ralph Anthony Webb Freitas
If the photos on his social network Web pages are any indication, Ralph Anthony Webb Freitas was a dedicated soldier who liked to have fun.
One shows a group of soldiers in full gear posing in front of a building. In another, he
The 23-year-old from Detroit died Dec. 8 in Baghdad of unknown causes, the military said. He was assigned to Okinawa, Japan.
His unit’s executive officer, Maj. Victor A. Chin, called Freitas “a very good Marine.”
In an online memorial, fellow soldiers recalled his professionalism and style, always cool under pressure. John A. Stone wrote that Freitas was “one of the best I’ve ever trained.”
Some noted he was polite and respected, and many cited his knack for brightening bad days.
“Few people had the personality and humor that Ralph brought with him every day to work,” wrote Cody Jones, who served as his squad leader.
Freitas had that ability to breed laughter for years, according to former middle and high school classmates who wrote on a Facebook memorial page.
His survivors include his mother.
Army Pfc. Jaiciae L. Pauley
Kelly Lincoln said she couldn’t believe it when the man she called her best friend, Jaiciae Pauley, joined the Army. She still remembered the boy she skipped school with so they could go see one of the “Star Wars” movies.
“We stood in line for hours,” Lincoln recalled.
“(He was) everything you could ask for in a best friend,” she said. “He had so much life and so much potential.”
Pauley, 29, of Austell, Ga., died Dec. 11 in Kirkuk, Iraq, after a noncombat related incident. The military is investigating and has not released further details of his death. He served as a combat medic and was assigned to Fort Stewart.
Pauley enlisted in the military in summer 2008, when his family moved to Muncie, Ind. The family moved from the Atlanta area to be closer to relatives when they started to struggle financially.
“He was a typical man in his 20s and he was my best friend who I could talk to about anything,” said his father, Roger Pauley.
His family said he was a talented singer who loved music and was great at tinkering with computers — he even helped his sergeant with computer problems in Iraq.
Pauley is survived by his father and his mother, Teressa.
Army Pvt. Jhanner A. Tello
Jhanner Tello’s wife says her husband would call her twice a day — once in the morning and once late at night — while he was deployed.
She called the time they spent in front of the computer talking — she in the U.S. and he in Iraq — their “Webcam dates.”
“I remember your voice, your laugh, your smile so vivid in my head!” Jennifer Noel Tello wrote on a Los Angeles Times memorial Web page. “I miss our daily Webcam dates!”
Jhanner A. Tello, 29, of Los Angeles, died Dec. 10 in Baghdad of injuries from a non-combat related incident.
He joined the military in July 2005 as a helicopter repairman. He was based at Fort Hood.
His decorations and awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal.
According to an obituary in the El Paso (Texas) Times, Tello is survived by his wife; sons, Joshua, Christian and Giovannie; daughter, Asiah; parents, Freddy Tello and Nancy Ordonez; and brothers, Jose and Omar.
