http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=10049The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Jonathan Rojas, 27, of Hammond, Ind., died on Oct. 3 in Baghdad, Iraq, from injuries suffered from enemy small arms fire while performing security operations. Rojas was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fort Wainwright, Ala.
http://iraq.pigstye.net/article.php/RojasJonathanHe was a 27-year-old man who never wanted to grow up and was never given the chance. Staff Sgt. Jonathan Rojas was shot in the head by a sniper Tuesday in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, and he was supposed to be headed home two months ago.
When asked, however, he agreed to stay a little longer, promising his family in Hammond that he'd see them for Christmas. Instead, his family was visited by reporters and television crews all night Wednesday, and they struggled to hold back tears in order to form sentences and tell the world how wonderful Rojas was.
"We always used to joke around, we shared a lot," said Rojas' sister Isaura, who couldn't finished the sentence before crying. "We're going to miss him being himself, doing stupid things, his company, having a brother, someone to talk to," said William Rojas, Jonathan's brother.
Rojas was a playful spirit, his family said. In August, he put himself on the waiting list for Xbox 3 so he could play the newest football games. When he graduated from Hammond High School in 1997, the high school goofball, as his brother called him, didn't know what to do with his life. One day, he'd decide that he would study to become a police officer. The next, he'd tell his father that he wanted to join the family's landscaping business....(more@link)