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.

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