Glendale GI killed during duty in Iraq

BY SUSAN ABRAM, Staff Writer

LA Daily News

Article Last Updated:



GLENDALE - She first felt the call when she was just 17 - the need to serve her country, the honor of wearing Army-issued fatigues.

But Carla Stewart didn't realize her dream until she was 35, when she seized the last opportunity to enlist in the Army Reserves.

"She would say, `Mom, this uniform feels so right,"' Emmy Aprahamian said Tuesday, holding a photograph of a young woman proudly wearing the blue dress uniform of a private first class.

"She cared a lot for this country," Aprahamian said, tears dripping from eyes reddened by grief. "She was too good for this world."

On Sunday, Aprahamian was notified that her 37-year-old daughter - whose photograph adorns the walls and shelves of her Glendale home - had died while serving in Tallil, Iraq. Assigned to the 250th Transportation Company based in El Monte, Stewart was killed when her convoy vehicle overturned.

The Department of Defense says the incident is under investigation, but those words mean nothing to an anguished mother.

"How does this happen?" Aprahamian said. "She told me she would not be in combat. It wasn't supposed to happen like this."

Born in La Cañada Flintridge and raised both there and in Glendale, Stewart had thought about enlisting in the service when she was 17.

"She was with her friend, but they got cold feet," Aprahamian recalled.

Instead, Carla learned mechanical drafting and worked alongside her father, Edmond Babayan, a former Marine. As she neared the cutoff age for the Army Reserves, she decided to enlist.

Aprahamian was born in Egypt and had lived in the Middle East, so knew the difficulties and strife involved in traveling in the region. Still, she loved her American-born daughter too much to discourage her aspirations.

"I thought, she is too good for a miserable place like Iraq," she said. "But I wanted to support her. For her to sign up, being a female, I admired her immensely. Not everyone has the guts to do it."

After completing basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C., Stewart was deployed to Iraq. She was due to come home in March to her mother and brother, Richard Babayan, but had been told that her stay could be extended.

"We used to e-mail each other all the time," Aprahamian said. "Last time I talked to her, we talked a long time. She told me she had gone to Munich and that she was so happy to be there, to see the colors of the flowers."

Sitting in her living room, Aprahamian reflected on a daughter she said was so easy to raise.

"I know in these times people always say that," Aprahamian said. "They don't remember the bad times, but with Carla it was true. I could have had 10 Carlas here in this small house and it would have been like I didn't even have to raise her.

"She was not only my dear daughter, but she was also my very best friend. And now I've lost both."

susan.abram@dailynews.com

(818) 713-3664



Copyright © 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group

Photo Caption: Army Spc. Carla Stewart was killed serving in Iraq on Sunday. Her father, Edmond Babayan, left, and brother, Rick Babayan, hold a photo of Stewart in her uniform.

Family mourns daughter

Glendale resident Army Spc. Carla Stewart died Sunday when her truck overturned in Iraq.

By Ani Amirkhanian

Carla Stewart had dreams of serving in the military since she was 17.

Two years ago, at 35, the dream became a reality. On Sunday she died fulfilling that dream.

A specialist in the Army, Stewart was driving a convoy vehicle in Iraq and swerved to avoid hitting another truck, said her father, Edmond Babayan. Her truck overturned and she was killed.

"It was her choice, she did it unbeknownst to me," Babayan said, of her joining the Army.

"She was a brave young little girl. A lot better than I thought she was."

Stewart intended to enlist when she was 17, but hesitated at the last minute, Babayan said.

"In her case, she went with her friends to join but they got cold feet," he said.

For Babayan, the loss of his daughter is a reminder that she decided to join the service at the wrong time, he said.

But all he can do is hold on to the memories.

"She had the most contagious laughter than anybody that I've known in my life," he said.

"She was the most happy-go-lucky person that I know."

When Stewart announced she had enlisted in the Army, the news shocked the family, said her brother, Rick Babayan.

"I personally wanted to trade places with her," he said.

"I would have talked her completely out of it."

Stewart likely wanted to join the military because she wanted to travel, meet new people and try something new, her brother said.

"The whole thing about the uniform, the pride, the power attracted her," he said.

"She was of all things, a lover of people."

Born in La Cañada Flintridge to ArmenianAmerican parents, Stewart attended La Cañada High School before she transferred to Hoover High as a senior when she moved to Glendale with her father after her parents divorced.

Stewart's high school friend Jeniffer Butler recalled seeing Stewart about one year ago, after she had enlisted in the Army.

"She seemed very excited about it," Butler said.

"She had decided to go ahead with it and join."

Butler and Stewart met when they were 16 and Stewart and her family moved across the street.

Stewart was the maid of honor at Butler's wedding.

"She was kind of a lot like me," Butler said.

"Stand up for what you believe in, she didn't take crap from anybody and she was determined to succeed."

Copyright © 2007 Glendale News Press

Great honor to you and your family.

Being a retire vet I understand only some of the sadness the family faces when they loose a special person like Carla. I don't know her but a picture says a thousand words....there is so much compassion - love - and confidence in the photo of her.

Be proud and know that she went where most natural born americans will not go, and served honorably.

It's a special deed to serve your country and ONLY those who have can trully understand.

May God Bless you and Your family.

What a great honor, to have been sacrificed for greater stock returns and profits for the very people who would never consider sending their own children into this meat grinder.

And we can count on some pro war recruiter type to tell us how wonderful this senseless death was. And how the family should be proud.

Disgusting.

Yeah, it's a real special deed to help mass-murder hundreds of thousands of innocents, all so the billionaires can buy bigger, shinier yachts. Uh, yah, valor, mhm.

My heart does go out to her family, though. They look like simple honest people, just the sort this monstrous empire chews up and shits out for lunch. Obviously. Such people need to wake up to the fact that they're in the clutches of a monster. They need to take notice of those who REALLY need killing...

I would like to Say i am sorry to the family of Carla. she was in my company. i had just seen her earlier that day. and i told her to be careful. she was always smiling and in a good mood. i had the pleasure of working with Carla at the motorpool. shere i thaught her many mechanical skills on the Hmvee. i will miss her. Gob bless her family. we miss you Carla

Your selfless service to your country will never be forgotten; we will memorialize your heroism.

Soldier remembered as a patriot

BY EUGENE TONG, Staff Writer

LA Daily News



In the eyes of her father, Carla Babayan Stewart was always his beautiful daughter with an infectious smile.

But at Saturday's memorial service for the 37-year-old Army specialist killed in a convoy accident in Iraq last month, she had become much more.

"I thought I was the tough one, the patriot of the family," said Edmond Babayan, Stewart's father and a retired Marine. "This young lady, she said if her unit wasn't called, she was going to go on her own anyway.

"I'm humbled by you, Carla. You turned out to be the brave, the tough, the best patriot of all of us. All I can say is until we meet again, I have to do my final salute to you as a humble Marine to my beautiful, tough hero."

Babayan saluted his daughter's flag-draped casket, then fell to his knees in prayer as about 300 family and friends gathered at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park Hollywood Hills cemetery to remember Stewart's life.

Born in La Ca ada Flintridge, she enlisted in the Army Reserves about two years ago and was assigned to the 250th Transportation Company based in El Monte.

After completing basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C., Stewart was deployed to Iraq. She was killed Jan. 28 when her vehicle overturned in Tallil.

Stewart's mother, Emmy Aprahamian, said her daughter showed immeasurable kindness toward others.

"Carla knew that our individual duty and responsibility in life is to polish our souls and become better human beings," she said. "By doing so, we heal ourselves and heal humanity at large.

"She was the light. She is my light."

That theme ran throughout the service - from the benediction delivered by Archbishop Mousheg Mardirossian of the Armenian Apostolic Church to the reflective dignity of the military funeral.

Uniformed soldiers punctuated the service with taps and a rifle salute, while Stewart's parents and brother released 37 white doves - one for each year of her life.

"The best we can do is to remember Carla as she lived, bringing life, love and joy to those who knew her and pride to a nation," said Esther Agopian, who delivered the eulogy.

"We marvel at your will and we will always celebrate your strength, your courage and your conviction," she said of Stewart's memory.

The older of two siblings, Stewart grew up in La Ca ada Flintridge and Glendale. She was an accomplished ballet dancer and enjoyed the outdoors. She married Brendan Stewart in 1995.

Her brother, Richard "Rick" Babayan, was her "forever best friend," Agopian said. "With Carla and Rick as the dynamic duo, there never was a dull moment in the Babayan household."

Yet Carla Stewart always yearned for a meaningful life in service to others.

"Many times she would say to Rick, `It shouldn't be either-or, should it? Peace and justice should belong to all people, everywhere, all the time; isn't that right?"' Agopian said.

Her fellow service members nicknamed her "Stuart Little" after a helpful mouse in children's books.

"(She was) always first to help with the biggest of tasks and always greeted you with the biggest smile," said Agopian, reading an e-mail from Sgt. Fredrick E. Moore, who served with Stewart.

In the message, Moore related a poem read during her Feb. 6 funeral service in Iraq.

"We thought we felt your touch today in the breeze that rustled by, and then we heard the angels say her spirit will never die."

eugene.tong@dailynews.com

(818) 546-3304



Copyright © 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group

Here are some photos to show people the work Carla did for the people of Iraq.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-stewart25feb25,0,661468,full.story?coll=la-home-obituaries

MILITARY DEATHS

Army Reserve Spc. Carla Jane Stewart, 37, Glendale; killed in convoy vehicle rollover

By Sandy Banks

Times Staff Writer

February 25, 2007

She was a wisp of a woman — 5 feet tall, with a cascading crown of dark curls — so unfailingly pleasant and polite that her fellow soldiers called her "Stuart Little" after the thoughtful little mouse in the classic children's story.

It had taken her 17 years to follow through on her adolescent dream of military service. But when Carla Jane Stewart finally joined the Army in July 2004, she dedicated herself to one goal: to serve in war-torn Iraq.

A member of the Army Reserve's 250th Transportation Company, based in El Monte, Stewart, 37, was killed Jan. 28 when her convoy vehicle overturned in Tallil, southeast of Baghdad. The accident is under investigation by Army officials.

The daughter of Armenian immigrants, Stewart grew up with the trappings of privilege in La Cañada Flintridge. She attended private schools, spent seven years studying ballet, took riding lessons and spent vacations water skiing and ice skating at her family's second home in Lake Arrowhead.

Stewart, whose parents divorced when she was a teenager, always had an affinity for the less fortunate, her mother said.

"Carla had an innately noble nature," said Emmy Aprahamian, dressed in black and perched on a sofa in her small Glendale apartment, where the walls are crowded with photos of her daughter and tables piled high with sympathy cards. "Carla loved animals, children, nature…. She was just a sweet soul who cared about doing good for everybody."

While in high school, she invited a friend to move in because the girl had no place to live. Together, they decided to join the military. But the girls got cold feet at the recruiter's office, Aprahamian said.

Instead, after her 1987 graduation from Glendale's Hoover High School, Carla enrolled at Glendale Community College, studied mechanical drafting and went to work for the structural engineering firm owned by her father, Edmond Babayan.

At 25, she married Brandon Stewart, a high school friend who had been a buddy of her younger brother, Richard. But 10 years later, estranged from her husband, her old dream of military service resurfaced.

At 35, nearing the cutoff age for enlistment, she joined the Army Reserve, whose soldiers receive combat training and attend weekend drills but can live at home and maintain their civilian careers.

Neither of her parents understood her choice, but they didn't try to dissuade their headstrong daughter.

"Even if I had tried to stop her from going, it would have been impossible," her mother said. "I warned her that she might have to go to Iraq. She said, 'Mom, that's OK.' " She was proud to be a soldier, Aprahamian said. "She would say 'Mom, this uniform feels so right.' "

To her father, a former Marine, she admitted that she wanted to go to Iraq. "She told me she was going to go on her own anyway" if her unit wasn't called up, he said.

When she learned that local Army Reserve units were being mobilized to go to Iraq, she lobbied to join them.

"She called me at home," said her El Monte squad leader, Sgt. Frederick Moore, "and told me 'I need to go to Iraq.' " A week later, on Jan. 12, 2006, Spc. Stewart was deployed to Iraq.

"She loved the Army," Moore told her family. And she was loved by her fellow soldiers for her optimism, serenity in the face of danger and unflagging high spirits, he said.

She was "always first to help with the biggest of tasks and always greeted you with the biggest smile," Moore wrote in an e-mail read at Stewart's funeral.

In letters to her family after her death, Stewart's Army friends reminisced about her frantic search for coffee each morning, her futile effort to give up smoking — "she kept bumming cigarettes from everyone" — and her frequent shopping trips for health and beauty supplies. She was funny and straightforward, they said. She spoke her mind and listened to others. She never held a grudge.

"She was the kind of person able to get along with most everyone," wrote her roommate, Sgt. Anthea Duarte. "That says a lot about her, because in this military, and in this life, that's not an easy thing to do."

In Iraq, Stewart was assigned to transportation, responsible for delivering fuel, food, equipment and other supplies to combat forces. The sight of the tiny woman atop a giant Humvee became a familiar one.

"Spc. Stewart never complained," said her commander, Capt. William Bowman. "Whether she was working as a gunner or a driver, she did her job well and with a smile on her face. When others were down, she was there to lift them up."

Back home, her mother never stopped worrying. Tears would come unexpectedly when she was driving her car or sitting alone in the apartment.

"But I thought, 'So many soldiers go and they come back. You cannot cry, and nothing has happened. All I can do is pray,' " she said.

Her mood had begun to lighten last month as her daughter's expected return date neared. Then she got a phone message from her daughter's commander: Their tour of duty, which was to have ended in March, would be extended through the summer, he said.

Two days later, there was a knock at Aprahamian's door. That same commander was on her doorstep, delivering the news of her daughter's death. "When this happens," Aprahamian said, "I thought, 'Maybe I didn't pray enough.' "

Stewart was buried Feb. 10 at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, Hollywood Hills, after a funeral at the Hall of Liberty that drew hundreds of friends, family members and fellow soldiers. There, her father paid a final tribute to his soldier daughter.

"She surprised the life out of me," said Edmond Babayan, who joined the Marine Corps after he immigrated to the United States at 18. "I thought I was the brave one in the family…. She turned out to be the brave, the tough, the best patriot of all of us.

"My little hero," he called her as he turned and faced his daughter's open casket. Then he said goodbye with a long salute and dropped to his knees.

*



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sandy.banks@latimes.com



Copyright 2007 Los Angeles Times

Everything of what you have about Spc. Stewart is right!

She is hero to me. How do, I because I was there with her on the road where she died, not Sgt. Moore. This want be hero Sgt. was too afraid to even go out side the wire. Sgt Moore was nothing but a paper pusher. Although everything he said about Carla is right. Get your facts straight before you writing something, journalist!

The real war criminal is you. Because you right here in this wweb page and don't have not even an ounce the courage Carla had. A woman who stood at 4 feet 10 inches, placed the needs of others above her own. But you know what I will steal this honor from my Battle buddy Carla. You keep on hiding behind this page you shameless coward. Hoohaa! Carla we'll keep on driving hard, driving strong. I will always Love You !!!

I have known Carla for about 3 years, we met at Advanced Individual Training in Ft. Leonardwood, Missouri.

There is not enough room on this page to express my feelings about her, she was truly a magnificent woman and soldier. She was always lifting spirits and making training events that weren't always "fun".. Fun.

My heart aches for her family and close friends. I am so sorry..

I am living in Tallil and maintained contact with Carla throughout the last couple years.

Her face was one of the first I saw when I got to Iraq.. And I will never forget her hugging me and saying "It'll be alright Dylane, go get 'em."

God Bless You.

(The Lord got a beautiful Angel.)

Sincerly Spoken......

Whoever put up the photos w/ the title "Carla = War Crminal" needs to get their facts straight. Anyone can put up a gory photo & blame someone for it. Those photos were most likely the result of terrorism. Your mindless blame-game reveals and substantiates the absolute idiocy of yourself and those like you. Come back when you actually have something to back up your hateful claims.

"Those photos were most likely the result of terrorism"

No kidding.

We as a nation of thinking feeling people should never have allowed our government to engage in this terrorism. And on such a colossal scale.

Because the war, through policies directed by upper chains of command, has been waged to create this horror you so simply call terrorism.

It keeps the merchants of death in gusiness. As well as their public relation agents of whoredom. Like 'true American'.

First off my love & respect go out for Carla Stewart. My condolences to her friends & family. She valiantly served our country, and I would have gladly taken her place in that convoy.

As for our friend troll, I can fire a rocket into a group of militant Jihadists and be labeled a 'terrorist'. A suicide bomber can indiscriminately kill women & children and the troops & Bush will be blamed.

The 'terrorists'..... "wage" this horror because they disagree with foreign policy "directed by upper chains of command"?? Thats obscene!... yes I've heard it before by other anti-U.S. crusaders, but it contains no logic! I stand by my previous statement.

Do you know anything about the actual policies that were practiced by the counter intelligence teams that originally were stationed in Iraq that were torturing the children of 'suspects' when Iraqis were coming in to *volunteer* information at the beginning of the occupation?

The wedding parties and demonstrations and the schools we shot up?

My goodness, anyone knows, who has served, like me [ US Army Infantry ] that command chains strictly regulate the actions of their command like the occupational forces in Japan and Germany in where VERY strict policies about abuse and fraternization were followed in order to 'keep the peace' under immediate occupation and civil service rebuilding.

In a situation that *doesn't* need a constant market for weapons contractors and war profiteers.

Are you too simple to see it or do I need to be tedious?

Whether there should be a U.S. occupation in Iraq is debatable. Personally, I would like to see the troops pulled out for their sake of their own lives and seeing that most of us could care less about the well-being of the middle east. Profiteers? Absolutely! Let me jump in and add corruption, waste, and deceit to the list. It's all prevelent and our own government is to blame.

The military as well as the government have a strict "chain of command"... and rightly so, tell me what organization doesnt'?

However, your ten-cent baseless claims of occupational forces "torturing the children" and "shooting up" wedding parties, schools and such are all too common and carry no substance. Uploading random photos of carnage and casually pointing fingers at our forces is so cheap and mindless its pathetic. Need I go on?

listen carefully to me. We are zionazis.

"that most of us could care less about the well-being of the middle east"

so 'us' is not me or my nation of America.

And the standard denial and negation we have come to expect from your lobby is what's pathetic.

"However, your ten-cent baseless claims of occupational forces "torturing the children"[1*] and "shooting up" wedding parties[2*], schools[3*] and such are all too common and carry no substance. Uploading random photos of carnage and casually pointing fingers at our forces is so cheap and mindless its pathetic. Need I go on?"

- From Seymour Hersh's July 8, 2004 keynote speech to the ACLU:

Some of the worst things that happened that you don’t know about. OK? Videos. There are women there. Some of you may have read that they were passing letters out, communications out to their men. This is at [Abu Ghraib], which is about 30 miles from Baghdad — 30 kilometers, maybe, just 20 miles, I'm not sure whether it's — anyway. The women were passing messages out saying please come and kill me because of what’s happened. And basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys, children, in cases that have been [video] recorded, the boys were sodomized, with the cameras rolling, and the worst above all of them is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking. That your government has, and they’re in total terror it’s going to come out. It’s impossible to say to yourself, how did we get there, who are we, who are these people that sent us there.-

[2*]-Rory McCarthy in Ramadi

The Guardian, Friday May 21 2004 Article history

The wedding feast was finished and the women had just led the young bride and groom away to their marriage tent for the night when Haleema Shihab heard the first sounds of the fighter jets screeching through the sky above.

It was 10.30pm in the remote village of Mukaradeeb by the Syrian border and the guests hurried back to their homes as the party ended. As sister-in-law of the groom, Mrs Shihab, 30, was to sleep with her husband and children in the house of the wedding party, the Rakat family villa. She was one of the few in the house who survived the night.-

[3*]

- Phil Reeves in Fallujah, Iraq

The Independent

30 April 2003

The scene was of a messy kind the Pentagon's publicists had dearly hoped to avoid. Large patches of congealed blood. Discarded shoes scattered in terror. Angry Iraqi neighbours and wailing relatives, recounting a tale of the random killing of young men whose only crime was to demand that their new, heavily armed masters leave the neighbourhood.-

So in other words you're deep into the ignorant zone, or hope we are.

Ohh! geeez! What a dazzling selection of fine intellectuals! Setmore Hersh at ACLU. Ohh yes! I remember... in San Francisco. The ACLU is real legit & trustworthy aren't they? I suppose I shall equal my stride with yours and invite Rush Limbaugh to preach to us on our(America's) falling away from traditional conservatism.

I would assume all these claims are real accurate in detail as they happened, absolutely nothing has been exaggerated. Am I safe to assume that? [1*] We have documented evidence of everything that has been purported unless of course the pentagon has stolen it from public view.

The atrocities committed by a few soldiers at Abu Ghraib, do in fact represent America & its troops & the administration as a whole. Am I right?? All of our soldiers including Carla are guilty of this, is that so??? Ohhh... I suppose all of our troops are deliberately killing innocent people as you have so portrayed. [3*] despite the overwhelming evidence of the charitable support etc. they provide to the Iraqi people. hmm..... right.

Every minute people are murdered & crimes are committed against children within the U.S. and we don't even know it , but...... God Forbid if something like this ever occurs at the hands of some of our troops overseas in the midst of a war whether intentional or not. I don't mean to rationalize that what has happened isn't wrong. But you like so many others tend to focus on insanely horrible acts committed by some and blow it Way out of proportion.

As for the 'ignorance zone' comment, take a look at yourself. You are neck deep in ignorance; I (at least) try to choose my sources a bit more carefully. Try not to allow yourself to be consumed by the hype and fall into the mind trap of the extremist left. See you at the next ACLU hullabaloo.... oops pardon me... "conference". :-)

And the zionazil fails the exam even though it does get a few points for bravado.

Wrong on all counts as stated before.

And Carla was murdered by the treachery of her government with the aid of its israeli hand maiden. She didn't do anything but faithfully serve her country.

Just like 'true American' is serving its own nation of israel as a pompous word smith.

Sadly, the only soldiers acting within the law are those who bravely refused the illegitimate and illegal orders, given to them by an equally illegitimate Government.

Technically, all of them are War Criminals, since "just following orders" hasn't been a viable excuse since WWII.

However, this must be taken with a grain of salt, considering how the troops were/are LIED to by the people using them to carry out their maniacal designs.

The real War Criminals are the architects of those LIES, and of this war.

Only by holding them accountable will we prevent this from happening again.

And imprisonment isn't enough.

They must all have the personal fortunes stripped, and used to begin to heal the wounds created by their actions, crimes which upon which they profited.

Crimes we hung men for only a few short decades ago ...

"Only by holding them accountable will we prevent this from happening again"

When ever a group of individuals design, in secret, with the power and wealth of a state behind them, to act in secret or in the interests of 'national security', only evil can grow. It has been growing for a long time and is now a huge monster of insatiable hunger, devoid of any humanity.

We know who they are.

She and her husband were NOT estranged. They were simply separated and heading towards the inevitable upon mutual agreement. If anything, they still hung out on occasion to BBQ, watch a movie or 2, have a few beers, etc... He signed papers for her to get into the reserve. Yes she was proud to serve and loved it. When she was 18, she read an advertisement, quite deceiving I may add for a great career. When she and her friend showed up to the place it was a Navy recruiting office. She and her friend said "f**k this s**t". She had no desire to join the military until 911 happened. That's the honest to God truth. The reason she wanted to go to Iraq (not the only reason) was so she would have served her months to get full time benefits and get better schooling and housing and better her endeavors. I just had to clear that up. One sided stories should be thought out by a reporter and investigated thoroughly before hitting the press.