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thedrifter
06-03-04, 01:26 PM
Camp Pendleton Marine killed in Iraq

By: GIG CONAUGHTON - Staff Writer

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Dustin Lee Sides, a 22-year-old extreme-sports enthusiast who raced through high school to join the Marines and asked that his life insurance help put his sister through college, has become the 817th U.S. service member killed in Iraq, according to Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base.

Sides, who grew up in Yakima, Wash., was a motor vehicle operator assigned to the 9th Communications Battalion of Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force, according to the base.

Defense Department officials told Sides' stepmother, Nancy Sides, that he was killed Monday when his unit was ambushed while returning to its base after a mission in war-torn Fallujah, she said from her Yakima home Wednesday.


"We talked to him about two hours before he died," Sides said. "His mission was already over. He was on his way back and he said that it went well. That's when it happened."

Sides said she, the Marine's father, John Sides, and two of their three remaining children learned he had been killed when two Marine sergeants knocked on their door at about 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Nancy Sides said her stepson was a "wonderful, loyal, gung-ho, determined thrill-seeker" who loved snowboarding, jet skiing and dirt bikes. He knew he wanted to be a Marine since high school, she said.

Christine Hunter-Conway, Sides' teacher at Yakima Alternative School, said the young man transferred to the alternative school to take more classes and graduate faster.

"He was a driven, dedicated, hard-working kid who knew what he wanted to be," Hunter-Conway said. "He wanted to get there (to the military) as quickly as he could. I kept having to say, 'You can only legally go so fast. ... No, Dustin, you can't do three classes in a week.' "

Marine officials said Dustin Sides joined the Corps on July 22, 2002, and was stationed at Camp Pendleton before being sent with other I MEF Marines to replace the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Fallujah in March.

Fallujah, a city of about 285,000 people near the center of Iraq, has been a hotbed of anti-American resistance for months and gained international attention when four American contractors were killed and mutilated there in late March.

Nancy Sides said Dustin talked to his family nearly every day from Iraq by satellite phone.

She said he often talked about Iraqi children and how poor they were, and she mentioned how her stepson "got into a little trouble" with his superiors for feeding children.

"I guess they thought it could be dangerous," she said. "They were afraid they may have bombs or something. He said they were just so hungry ---- that was one of the first phone calls we got."

Sides said that more than anything, her stepson wanted people back home to support the troops and be proud of them.

Her stepson never complained or talked about not returning home, she said.

But she said he told his parents that he wanted part of his life insurance, in the event of his death, to be used to help pay for his 15-year-old sister Katie's college education.

"He made that known to us," she said.

Nancy Sides said she and her family were struggling with shock.

"We finally got a little sleep last night," she said. "Our kids slept in our room with us. They're taking it pretty hard. We're proud of him and we love him."

Sides said her son's body was scheduled to come home this week.

Defense Department officials said Sides had earned the National Defense Service Medal.

Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 739-6696 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/06/03/military/16_18_356_2_04.txt


Ellie


Rest In Peace

thedrifter
06-03-04, 01:26 PM
Marine from Riverside killed in Iraq is father of unborn girl

By: Associated Press

RIVERSIDE -- When Marine Lance Cpl. Rafael Reynosa left for Iraq several months ago, he didn't know the gender of the baby his wife was carrying.

"He wanted to have a baby girl and I just found today it's a little girl. He left without knowing what he was having, and that's ... really tough on me," his five-month pregnant wife, Dinora, told KABC-TV on Wednesday.

Reynosa, 28, of Riverside, died Saturday of hostile fire in Al Anbar Province in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement.


Reynosa will be buried at Riverside National Cemetery.

The Camp Pendleton Marine was a mortarman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Reynosa came from Mexico and lived in Santa Ana during his teens. He married Dinora, his high school sweetheart, and the couple moved into the first home they bought together in Riverside a few months ago.

Owning a home was Reynosa's dream.

"Once he got those keys, he's like, 'I'm already an American. I made my American dream,"' his wife said.

Dinora Reynosa said she will tell her girl everything about her father, including that he "is always going to be a hero."

Rafael Reynosa joined the Marines on April 23, 2001. He has received several awards, including the National Defense Service Medal.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/06/03/military/18_02_206_2_04.txt


Ellie


Rest In Peace

thedrifter
06-04-04, 07:26 AM
Community Rallies Behind Marine's Family
By MARK MOREY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC


Dustin Sides, the Yakima Marine killed Sunday in Iraq, was hailed Wednesday as a "true American hero," while local residents and businesses began showing their support for the 22-year-old lance corporal.

Relatives said the appreciation demonstrated by the community and friends overwhelmed them.

The support revealed itself in the form of flowers, telephone calls, sympathy notes from strangers and reader board signs, including one in Selah that described Sides as a hero. Flags were also flying at half-staff around Yakima and Selah.

"Dustin would be happy," said Nancy Sides, his stepmother.

Sides, who drove a large military wrecker, died in an ambush during an overnight return from a mission in Fallujah. In a phone call to his father just a couple of hours before his death, he had described the operation as successful.

Spokesmen at Camp Pendleton, the home base for Sides' 9th Communications Battalion, would not release further details of the attack. The battalion is responsible for a variety of ground and air communications.

But Bryan Driver, spokesman for the Marine Corps Casualty Assistance Section in Quantico, Va., said the convoy with which Sides was traveling came under fire from mortars and small arms.

"From the looks of it, (Sides) was the only one who was killed," Driver said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "But it could be that (other next-of-kin) notifications just haven't been made."

Family members said they hope for more answers about what happened.

"We're anxious to hear something because we're on the other side of the world and all we know is we have our son killed," said stepfather Paul Billings.

However, military officials told them Wednesday that more information was unlikely because of the circumstances.

As of Wednesday, 813 U.S. service members had died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq last year, according to the Defense Department.

Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 675 U.S. soldiers have died.

Sides was the 13th person from Washington state killed in Iraq since the start of the second Gulf War.

Those who knew Sides thought he would be safer because of his wrecker assignment. He spent six months training other Marines how to use the specialized equipment.

When the battalion arrived in Kuwait, they used flak jackets donated by another unit to create an improvised armor lining for their vehicles, Billings said.

Billings said relatives were struggling to deal with the grief.

"It's just one of these things where you start out in a lot of denial and you just can't believe it. It's just coming in waves and everybody is torn apart," he said.

Nancy Sides said earlier that her stepson had never wanted anybody to look down on him for joining the armed forces and going to Iraq.

"He wanted to do something right for those people and he believed in it," Billings said.

John Sides, Sides' father, said the support from the Marines has been phenomenal.

Relatives met again Wednesday with a casualty assistance team to start outlining the details of the memorial service and make other arrangements.

"We're still in the immediate phase," said Marine Capt. Brian Lewis, an inspector and instructor with the 4th Tank Battalion's Bravo Company in Yakima. "We're doing everything we can to take care of the family and make sure the Marine is honored the way he needs to be honored."

Relatives said it could take up to two weeks for the body to arrive in Yakima.

The family plans a full military graveside service at Tahoma Cemetery in Yakima.

A retired Army sergeant has already anonymously donated a plot for Sides near the cemetery's main memorial.

The Yakima Police Department's honor guard also plans to escort Sides' body to a local funeral home and to the cemetery.

Sides joined the Marine Corps on July 22, 2002. His personal awards include the National Defense Service Medal, which indicates military service during a time of war or conflict regardless of the service member's station of duty.

He graduated from Yakima Alternative School in 2001 after transferring from Eisenhower High School when a lawnmower accident forced him to temporarily rely on crutches.

Friends and relatives described Sides as a caring, loyal man with a can-do attitude.

"I can't believe how many lives he touched in his short 22 years," Billings said.

n Yakima Herald-Republic staff reporter Adriana Janovich and The Associated Press contributed to this article.

http://www.yakima-herald.com/?storyid=280655830262390


Ellie


Rest In Peace

thedrifter
06-06-04, 11:33 AM
Camp Pendleton Marine killed in Al Anbar

By: North County Times

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Military officials on Saturday announced the death of a Camp Pendleton-based Marine serving in Iraq. Lance Cpl. Todd J. Bolding, 23, of Manvel, Texas, died June 3 of wounds he received during hostile action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

Bolding was a rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.

Bolding joined the Marines on July 2, 2001 and had been awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.


Bolding's sister told the Houston Chronicle in an article printed Saturday that the young Marine was "always trying to help somebody, just doing the right thing. He was just an all around good kid."

Bolding planned to attend college in the Houston area and was due to complete his military service in about 9 months, the Chronicle reported.

Rest In Peace


Ellie

USMCWifeNMom
06-06-04, 11:41 AM
God rest his soul and bring peace to those who love him.