Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Clark A. Corley Jr., age 35, from Oxnard, California, Ventura county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, Bliss, Texas.
Date of death: Saturday, December 3, 2011
Death details: Died of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Killed were Sgt. 1st Class Clark A. Corley Jr., Spc. Ryan M. Lumley, Spc. Thomas J. Mayberry.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Gilberto Alexander Meza, age 21, from Oxnard, California, Ventura county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company G, 3D Squadron, 2D Cavalry, Vilseck, Germany
Date of death: Saturday, October 6, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Landstuhl Hospital Care Project
Jaime Rodriguez Jr, age 19, from Oxnard, California, Ventura county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Troop A, 5Th Squadron, 7Th Cavalry, Fort Stewart, Georgia
Date of death: Thursday, July 26, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Saqlawiyah, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Santa Barbara Independent
Allanmark Cundangan Espiritu, age 28, from Oxnard, California, Ventura county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 8Th Esb Fwd, 2D Fssg Fwd (Parent: 7Th Esb, 1St Mlg, Camp Pendleton, Ca)
Date of death: Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Ramadi, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Elijah Matthew Ortega, age 19, from Oxnard, California, Ventura county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: C Co, 2D Ceb, Rct-8, 2D Mar Div, Camp Lejeune, Nc
Date of death: Monday, September 26, 2005
Death details: died as result of a non-hostile gunshot wound at Camp Baharia, Iraq.
Source: Department of Defense, U.S. Navy, Military Times
Kevin Michael Luna, age 26, from Oxnard, California, Ventura county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: B Co, 1St Bn, 63D Armor, 1St Inf Div, (Tf Danger), Vilseck, Gm
Date of death: Thursday, January 27, 2005
Death details: Normandy, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Michael Edward Bitz, age 31, from Oxnard, California, Ventura county.
Service era: Iraq
Spouse: Janina
Children: Four children: Months old twins, Christian, 7, and Joshua, 2
School: Hueneme High School in Oxnard (1990)
Military history: 2D Aa Bn, 2D Mardiv, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
Date of death: Sunday, March 23, 2003
Death details: Hostile; An Nasiriyah, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Anthony T. Patterson, age 22, from Oxnard, California, Ventura county.
Service era: Gulf War
Date of death: Monday, March 18, 1991
Death details: Died non-battle
Source: White House Commission on Remembrance, Department of Defense
Luis Gallegos Holguin, age 20, from Oxnard, California, Ventura county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, January 3, 1971
Death details: On January 3, 1971, a U-6A Beaver (tail number 52-2584) took off carrying a pilot and six passengers on an administrative support flight from Qui Nhon to Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam. The flight was over mountainous terrain and flown in inclement weather. Radar contact was lost with the aircraft fourteen miles southeast of Phu Cat, South Vietnam, in the vicinity of (GC) BR 960 250, and the U-6A never reached Ban Me Thuot. Attempts to locate the aircraft, pilot, or any of the passengers following the disappearance were unsuccessful. Warrant Officer 1 Luis Gallegos Holguin entered the U.S. Army from California and was a member of the 61st Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade. He was a passenger aboard this aircraft when it was lost on January 3, 1971, and he remains unaccounted-for. After the incident, the Army promoted WO1 Holguin to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CWO3). Today, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Holguin is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Carlos Jr. Chavez from Oxnard, California, Ventura county.
Spouse: Dora A. Chavez
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, June 25, 1970
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, Los Angeles Times (1970)