Editor's Note: Every Sunday, The Times publishes staff-written obituaries of servicemen and servicewomen killed in the line of duty who considered California their home state, or who had significant ties to the state. In addition, based on information from the U.S. Department of Defense, The Times publishes brief obituaries of members of the U.S. armed forces who are killed overseas in the line of duty.
Gabriel Guzman was serious about physical fitness and martial arts -- even if he could be a joker about so many other things.
The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq or who died at a military hospital of their injuries:
The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan, the east African country of Djibouti and Iraq:
Not long ago, 22-year-old Bobby Rapp took pen to binder paper in a faraway land, writing what amounted to a last will and testament.
Army Sgt. Timothy P. Martin often found himself surrounded by Iraqi children clamoring for candy and pens as he made his rounds. He asked his older sister and mother to send him a big box of both.
Working odd jobs and barely making ends meet, Michael T. Manibog was frustrated with the direction his life was heading and wanted to provide more for his 9-year-old son. After a heart-to-heart talk with his older sister a few years ago, he decided to join the Army.
Californians Michael T. Manibog, 31, of San Leandro and Timothy P. Martin, 27, of Pixley were among four Army soldiers killed Feb. 8 when their Stryker vehicle was destroyed by a roadside bomb in Taji, Iraq, north of Baghdad.
Total U.S. deaths*: * In and around Iraq**: 3,973
The Defense Department last week identified the following U.S. troops killed in Iraq or who died at a military hospital of their injuries:
When he wasn't defusing roadside bombs, Army Sgt. James K. Healy often could be found drawing, taking out the stress of each day by creating cartoon characters of family members and friends.
The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Iraq:
Total U.S. deaths*:
* In and around Iraq**: 3,963
Brandon Meyer was a wide-smiling pastor's son with a sarcastic sense of humor and a fondness for practical jokes.
He was known as the guy with the random stories. "When I was in Tahiti . . ." or "When I was in Sydney . . .," he would tell his Army buddies, who listened intently, if just the slightest bit skeptically.
He had a sly grin, in which he would tilt his head to the side and his ears stuck out. That was one sign that something was afoot.
In a somber ceremony, a military honor guard escorts the body of an Army sergeant killed in Iraq off a plane at Long Beach Airport.
Army Pfc. George Howell, 24, Prunedale
When George Howell told his hometown friends that, at age 24, he had decided to enlist in the Army despite the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, they tried to talk him out of it.
The Defense Department last week identified the following U.S. military personnel killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait:
The Defense Department last week identified the following U.S. military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq:
Navy Chief Petty Officer Mark T. Carter, 27, Fallbrook
It is not unusual for young men to join the Navy in hopes of finding out what they want to do with their lives. But not Mark T. Carter.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Alejandro Ayala, 26, Riverside
The last time Cesar Ayala saw his brother Alejandro was Aug. 14, when they played some pool and shared a late McDonald's lunch near the Camp Virginia military base in Kuwait.
The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Iraq:
The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq:
Army Spc. Vincent Madero, 22, Port Hueneme
Vincent Madero was so exhausted after returning from combat missions in Iraq that he didn't always have time to write to his family and friends. Sometimes, weeks went by before he could send them postcards or e-mails.
The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Iraq:
Army Spc. Wayne M. Geiger, 23, Lone Pine
When he was a student, there was one thing about Wayne Geiger that didn't change in his first years on Lone Pine High School's basketball team: Other players gravitated toward him instead of the coach.
Army Pfc. Mathew D. Taylor, 21, Cameron Park
Mathew D. Taylor had been weighing a military career for months, but still managed to catch his mother off guard when he told her that he'd decided to join the Army.
The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Iraq or who died at a military hospital of their injuries:
The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Iraq and Kuwait:
Mareko Milo believed his son's chances weren't good.
The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel who were killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait or who died at a military hospital of their injuries:
Robert T. "Bobby" Ayres III was a sandy-haired, drums-playing teenager who loved music by the Ramones and the Grateful Dead when he stumbled half-awake into his father's Brentwood kitchen one morning and saw the World Trade Center ablaze on television.
The Defense Department last week identified the following U.S. military personnel killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait:
COLUMN ONE
Mark Daily wrote on MySpace that he joined the Army to help the suffering people of Iraq. In death, his words have become a call to service.
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.
If he could have, Ming Sun would have joined the Army soon after he graduated from Cathedral City High School in 2004.
A soldier is all that Army Sgt. Lawrance James Carter wanted to be while growing up in Upland. It was a family tradition. His mother, father, uncle and grandfather had all been Marines. His stepfather was an Army Green Beret, and his brother is in the Army.
On leave last spring after his first tour of duty in Iraq, Marine Corps Cpl. Joshua D. Pickard visited elementary school classes near his home in Merced, Calif., and tried to put his combat experience into perspective.
A few days before Christmas, a neighbor noticed two men in military uniforms knocking repeatedly at the Tamayo family's darkened front door in Fontana.
When Michael "Paul" Bridges tried to follow in his father's footsteps and enlist in the Army in December 2001, he was rejected. At 5 feet 11, he weighed 296 pounds.
The day before he was killed by a bomb in Afghanistan, Army Cpl. Jeffrey G. Roberson was waiting to hear all about the man his younger sister planned to marry.
Years before he was sent off to fight — and die — in a real war, Rudy Salcido waged makebelieve battles in the wilds of Azusa Canyon.
Army Sgt. Angel de Jesus Lucio Ramirez knew how much his mother worried about him during his first combat tour in Iraq. So during his second tour he would call home two or more times a week to reassure her that all was well.
Only 21, Fernando Robinson thought he already had experienced the best and worst that life had to offer.
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