Voices from Iraq remember fallen

One was remembered as quiet and reserved, older than most of his fellow soldiers, a man who grew up without a father but who acted like one to those close to him.

The other was outwardly confident and athletic – friends dubbed him “Too Strong” – and wasn’t shy about speaking his mind. He also acted on the encouragement of his family to embrace his religious faith.

The two men, Army Cpls. Wade J. Oglesby and Michael M. Rojas, were killed together April 18 at Taji, 10 miles north of Baghdad, when an insurgent bomb exploded beneath their Humvee.

Fort Lewis gathered Tuesday to pay tribute to two of its now 99 service members to die in the Iraq war.

Oglesby, 27, was the driver and Rojas, 21, the machine gunner in the lead vehicle of their convoy as it made its way back from a mission in the village of Al Intasar. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, a part of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, the Stryker brigade now 10 months into its second Iraq deployment.

Speakers Tuesday said Oglesby had been through a lot before he joined the Army in 2004 in his hometown of Grand Junction, Colo. He grew up without a father at home, left high school as a sophomore to care for his ailing mother and helped raise his younger sister. His mother died in 2003.

Maj. Robert Bennett, the brigade’s rear detachment commander, was the artillery battalion’s executive officer when Oglesby arrived to the unit in late 2004. He said Oglesby was older and had wisdom that other soldiers sought.

His friend, Spc. Jeffrey Hacker, said O.G., as he was known, was quiet to all “but the lucky few of us who got more than a phrase out of him.”

Hacker’s remarks, made at a memorial ceremony Monday in Iraq, were read aloud Tuesday.

Hacker said Oglesby would stay up late listening to him “complain about the little things – not because he cared much about my complaints, but because he cared about me.”

He is survived by his brother and sister.

Rojas, from Fresno, Calif., likewise grew up estranged from his father and played that role to an extent with his four younger sisters. He was a standout high school football player, and buddies, in remarks that were read Tuesday, said he frequently subjected them to the highlight video from his gridiron career.

Rojas’ widow, Katrina, told reporters Tuesday she met her future husband when he sent a message to her myspace.com page, asking for her phone number. Her friend was married to another soldier in Rojas’ unit. After their first date, in October 2005, she said she told her mom that he was the one for her.

They married last September, while he was home on midtour leave.

The distance and strain of deployment were hard on the young couple, though, and they thought about divorcing, said Lt. Col. Chris Cieply, the chaplain. Katrina, and Rojas’ mom, Debra, encouraged him to turn to his Christian faith.

Cieply said Rojas was at first reluctant; he didn’t want to be “one of those guys” who turn to God when they’re in a war zone. But his loved ones persisted. It was a breakthrough, Cieply said.

Rojas called his mom at home nearly every night, to the point that she started sleeping on the couch so her conversations wouldn’t disturb others in the house. He asked her to pray for his marriage and for some of the young people he’d met in Iraq.

Katrina Rojas said she’d begun to count down the remaining days of her husband’s deployment before the announcement this month that the brigade would be extended another three months in Iraq.

“Now it’s like my countdown will continue forever,” she said. “But I know that I’ll see Mike, and we’ll be together again.”

Rojas also tried to reach out to his estranged father, Cieply said, sending him a letter. There was no reply before the soldier died.

“Passionate love and broken hearts,” Cieply said. “It has become the theme of our lives here at Fort Lewis.”