{"article":{"id":121946,"heading":"Local Soldier Killed in Iraq","author":"DJ","created":"2005-02-02 07:31:06","modified":"2005-02-03 09:06:20","last_modified":"Thu, 03 Feb 2005 16:06:20","article":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sanluisobispo.com\/mld\/sanluisobispo\/10781849.htm\">http:\/\/www.sanluisobispo.com\/mld\/sanluisobispo\/10781849.htm<\/a> <br><br> Posted on Mon, Jan. 31, 2005  <br><br> Oxnard soldier killed in Iraq accident <br><br> Associated Press <br><br> OXNARD, Calif. - Whenever Army Pfc. Kevin M. Luna returned to California to visit, he would tell friends to have a list of projects that he could help them accomplish. <br><br> \"All I did was mention to him that we wanted a koi pond, and before he left, we had us a koi pond,\" said one family friend, Susan Gauntt. \"He was just a great guy.\" <br><br> Luna, 26, died Jan. 27 from noncombat-related injuries while serving with the 1st Infantry Division in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, according to the Defense Department. <br><br> His parents, Teresa and Robert Luna of Oxnard, said they were told their son died in an accident that is still under investigation but they had no other details. <br><br> Friends and family recalled the soldier as a generous and warm person who would do such things as make calls to California from his base in Germany to help find a job for a longtime friend who was out of work. <br><br> \"He was always there to help someone when they needed it,\" said the friend's wife, Laura Winget. \"He was fun-loving, caring. He just loved life.\" <br><br> Luna, who grew up in Oxnard and played football for Rio Mesa High School, joined the Army in 1999. He decided to re-enlist while in Iraq for another four years in the service, his father said. <br><br> \"He felt that it was a way to help people out,\" Robert Luna said. \"He wanted to serve his country.\" <br><br> Luna is survived by his wife, Stephanie; a son; and two brothers.\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.sanluisobispo.com\/mld\/sanluisobispo\/10781849.htm","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Oxnard soldier Army Pfc. Kevin M. Luna  killed in Iraq accident.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2005\/02\/121946.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}