Soldier from L.B., 21, dies in Iraq
By Karen Robes, Staff writer

A 21-year-old U.S. Army specialist from Long Beach was killed in combat while on patrol in northern Iraq, military officials announced Thursday.

Spc. Roberto L. Martinez Salazar died Saturday in Mosul, Iraq, after an improvised explosive blasted near the combat engineer's Humvee, according to the Defense Department.

The department could not provide additional information about his injuries or his deployment. His family could not be reached for comment.

Martinez Salazar entered the Army in March 2003 and went in July 2003 to Fort Lewis, Wash. He was assigned to Company A, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade.

Fellow soldiers will honor Martinez Salazar's memory at 10:30 a.m. today at Fort Lewis, said Erin Benson, a public affairs officer at Fort Lewis.

Locally, visitation hours are from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at McKenzie Mortuary, 3843 E. Anaheim St. in Long Beach.

Funeral services will take place at 9 a.m. Monday at Church of Our Fathers at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 4471 Lincoln Ave. in Cypress.

Martinez Salazar's death is among nearly a dozen Long Beach-area soldiers who have died in combat in the war zone, including Army Pvt. Ernesto Guerra, 19, who died July 28 in a Humvee crash in Baghdad. In May, Army Sgt. First Class Randy Collins, 36, died in a mortar attack in Mosul. One month earlier, Army Sgt. Anthony Jerome Davis Jr., 22, was also killed in Mosul after a car filled with explosives crashed into the troop transport vehicle he rode in.

Karen Robes can be reached at (562) 499-1303.

Copyright © 2006 Los Angeles Newspaper Group

Fallen soldier mourned

MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
Published: February 11th, 2006 02:30 AM

Spc. Roberto L. Martinez Salazar was remembered Friday for his piercing eyes and a bearing that made him seem older than his 21 years.

He had just re-enlisted and planned to make a career of the Army. He was going to marry his sweetheart when he got home from his second tour in Iraq.

Instead, Fort Lewis gathered to pay tribute to the combat engineer from Long Beach, Calif., killed in a roadside bomb blast Feb. 4. He is the 71st service member from the post to be killed in the Iraq war.

Martinez Salazar was patrolling for planted bombs in Mosul, the volatile northern city that has claimed 41 of those war dead from Fort Lewis.

Soldiers read from eulogies that had been delivered the day before by Martinez’s commanders and comrades in Mosul.

His commander there, Capt. Regan Campbell, said the look in his eyes “was always focused and powerful. … He always seemed to be looking into my soul.

“I always felt secure with him as a gunner because I knew he would give ’em hell if he needed to,” Campbell said.

But he had a lighter side as well. He enjoyed using his 14th Combat Engineer Battalion motto – “Rugged!” – as an all-purpose answer.

Campbell said if he asked Martinez how he was doing, he’d always say, “Rugged, sir!” About the weather: “Rugged, sir!” Or about his plans to marry on his next trip home: “Rugged, sir!”

And the chow?

“Extra rugged, sir!”

“I would give anything just to hear him give me one more ‘Rugged, sir!’” Campbell said, in remarks that were read Friday by Capt. Erik Olsen, the 14th’s rear detachment commander.

Col. Thomas Joseph, the chaplain who presided Friday, said Martinez’s sister Angela in Long Beach told him he was born in Mexico City and moved to California with his family at age 2. After a while, his parents moved back to Mexico and left him and his sister to be raised by an aunt in the Los Angeles area.

They called him Berto. He was quiet but would speak his mind, and always encouraged his sister to pursue an education. He joined the Army after high school and loved being a soldier, Joseph said.

He arrived at Fort Lewis in the summer of 2003 and went to Iraq that year as a machine gunner on the brigade commander’s personal security team.

He re-enlisted several weeks ago in Mosul for a six-year term.

Spc. Martin Teregeyo, his buddy since basic training in 2003, said Martinez must have had a premonition about the attack.

In remarks read Friday by Cpl. Kurtis Valentine, Teregeyo said the two went to the post exchange the night before, and Teregeyo said Martinez made a point of telling him, “I love you, man.”

“He was always willing and able,” Teregeyo said, “and he was damned sure rugged to the bone.”

Michael Gilbert: 253-597-8921

mike.gilbert@thenewstribune.com

© Copyright 2006 Tacoma News, Inc

Family remembers fallen soldier

Those who knew Roberto Salazar exchange stories and tears.

By David Rogers, Staff writer

LONG BEACH — Roberto Luis Martinez Salazar wasn't a United States citizen at the time of his death, but a desire to serve led the 21-year-old Army specialist to give the ultimate sacrifice to his adopted country.

A native of Mexico, Salazar was a recent graduate of Millikan High School and was looking for purpose in his life when he enlisted in the Army in March 2003, his family said. He knew of the conflicts the nation was involved in the invasion of Iraq began that month but that wasn't why he joined, said cousin Alberto Najera.

"I felt like a role model for him," said Najera, a 23-year-old Army specialist who was influential in Salazar's decision to enlist. Najera was one of about 80 people family members and well-wishers who came to a viewing Sunday afternoon at McKenzie Mortuary to pay their respects to Salazar, who died Feb. 4 in Mosul, Iraq, after an improvised explosive device blew up near his armored Humvee during a patrol. "We live in the shadows of great men, and now he's part of that legacy," Najera said.

Several visitors weren't able to hold back their tears, including 18-year-old Adrian Mendoza, a cousin who said the combat engineer was more like a brother to him. He said he was crying because he didn't say goodbye to Salazar the last time Salazar was in town.

"He was a very important part of my life," said Mendoza like Salazar, a Millikan High graduate who joined the wrestling team. Salazar was still a student when Mendoza entered Millikan, and Mendoza said his cousin helped prepare him for the team and the school's social scene.

Mendoza said he also followed Salazar's footsteps as the bassist in the church band at Iglesia Maranatha on the city's Westside after Salazar joined the Army. After basic training, Salazar went to Fort Lewis, Wash., in July 2003, and was a member of Company

A, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade.

Salazar's second deployment to Iraq began in October and was to last for one year, Najera said. Salazar's first deployment lasted about eight months between 2004 and 2005, Najera said.

Salazar was granted posthumous American citizenship, said cousin Aldonza Beltran, who is Najera's sister.

The viewing also attracted current and former soldiers who didn't know Salazar but wanted to pay their respects, like Manny Rojas, a Long Beach resident and former Army paratrooper who served during the Korean War.

"I just heard about this memorial. Otherwise, I would have come in full uniform," Rojas said.

And Army Sgt. 1st Class Javier Marquez, who served for a time in Fort Lewis but didn't know Salazar, also visited briefly to offer his condolences. "It's a tragedy when this hits home," said Marquez, who now works at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos.

In addition to his large extended family, Salazar is survived by his father, Roberto Martinez, who lives in Mexico; his mother, Manuela Salazar; and his sister, Mariana Martinez.

Salazar's funeral service will take place at 9 this morning at Church of Our Fathers at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 4471 Lincoln Ave., in Cypress. Interment will follow at Forest Lawn.

David Rogers can be reached at david.rogers@presstelegram.com or at (562) 499-1246.

Copyright © 2006 Los Angeles Newspaper Group

L.B. Soldier laid to rest
By Karen Robes, Staff writer

Hero Mourned

CYPRESS — At the foot of his cousin's grave, U.S. Army Spl. Alberto Najera looked at the airborne wings he earned, pulled them from his green uniform and placed them on the top of the coffin.

"It was the highest thing I treasured the most," Najera said as loved ones buried Army Spl. Roberto L. Martinez Salazar, the 21-year-old Long Beach combat engineer who died Feb. 4 in a roadside bomb blast while patrolling for planted bombs in Mosul, Iraq.

More than 50 family members, friends and military personnel stood on the grounds of the Church of Our Fathers at Forest Lawn Monday, waiting in silence for the procession to begin.

Some wore black ribbons on their sleeves and jacket lapels. His mother, Manuela Salazar, leaned against the arm of a soldier for support while she cried.

One woman covered her mouth when the rear hearse door opened and flashed the flag-covered coffin of Martinez Salazar. In a series of exact movements, the soldiers carried Martinez Salazar's body into the church.

As the casket passed by, soldiers saluted. Many in attendance, including a motorcycle group called the "patriot guard riders," did not know the family but wanted to show their respect for the soldier.

"These people have sacrificed a lot," said Tony Blanton, a member of the motorcycle group.

Inside the church, Brig. Gen. Robert Cone, commanding general of the National Training Center and Fort Irwin, shared with guests what Martinez Salazar's unit said about him.

Martinez Salazar was disciplined, and "a great soldier, a man to be counted on."

"Our nation stands in awe of your patriotism and personal sacrifice," Cone said. "May God bless you and keep you."

Born in Mexico, Martinez Salazar moved to Long Beach as a child. After graduating from Millikan High School, he enlisted in the Army in March 2003. After basic training, he headed to Fort Lewis, Wash., and was a member of Company A, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade.

Martinez Salazar, who recently re-enlisted, was in his second tour in Iraq. He planned to make a career of the Army and marry his sweetheart when he returned.

At Martinez Salazar's grave, soldiers fired their rifles in a salute that pierced the silence that fell over the family members. Manuela Salazar wiped away tears as uniformed men lifted the flag from her son's coffin and folded it into a triangle for Cone to present to her.

Along with the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart medals, Cone also presented to Manuela a posthumous certificate of U.S. citizenship.

"He was just a kid, a kid, a lovely kid," Isabel Enciso, Martinez Salazar's aunt, said sobbing. "I don't know why God decided to take him but now he has an angel to sing and praise him. I know he did this for us, for all the people not just for the family, but just for all the people in this country and in Iraq."

Karen Robes can be reached at (562) 499-1303.

Copyright © 2006 Los Angeles Newspaper Group

2/13/2006 - Picture of Army Spc. Roberto Salazar at Forest Lawn in Cypress, Calif. on Monday, February 13 2006. Salazar, who died Feb. 4 in Mosul, Iraq, after an improvised explosive device blew up near his armored Humvee during a patrol, was a graduate of Milikan High School in Long Beach, Calif.

Photo by Jeff Gritchen / Press-Telegram

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
02/14/2006

Governor Schwarzenegger Issues Statement on Death of Long Beach Soldier: Spc. Roberto L. Martinez Salazar

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today released the following statement regarding the death of Spc. Roberto L. Martinez Salazar of Long Beach:

"Brave soldiers like Spc. Martinez Salazar willingly put their lives on the line every day for our country. Maria and I join all Californians in mourning the loss of Roberto. His sacrifice will not be forgotten and our prayers are with his family, friends and fellow soldiers as they grieve."

Spc. Martinez Salazar, 21, died Feb. 4 from injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his up-armored HMMWV during patrol operations in Mosul, Iraq. He was assigned to Company A, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Fort Lewis, WA.

In honor of Spc. Martinez Salazar, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.