By Jenn Schuch

The 2nd Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Carson has lost its 8th soldier since returning to Iraq in October. Thursday morning, the Army announced Private First Class Ming Sun of Cathedral City, California was killed January 9th at Ar Ramadi after sustaining injuries during enemy fire while out on patrol. PFC Sun was just 20 years old.

Cathedral City soldier killed in Iraq

by RaNeeka J. Claxton

The Desert Sun

January 11, 2007

A Cathedral City High School graduate has died in the War in Iraq.

Ming Sun, 20, a U.S. Army soldier, was killed Tuesday in Ramadi, Iraq, of wounds from enemy forces using a rifle or pistol, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. He was on combat patrol.

“He had a lot of pride. He never admitted when he felt weak," friend Gilbert Napenas, 17, of Cathedral City said Thursday, the day Sun’s death was announced.

"We met when I was a freshman. He introduced me to all of my friends here (at the high school). He liked to play video games,” Napenas said.

The last time Napenas spoke with the 2004 graduate, Sun was just finishing up his Army training.

"He told me how hard training was, how he could never slouch, and always had to stand up straight,” Napenas said. ”He was so excited and looking forward to going to Iraq.”

Stephanie Cancel, 17, of Cathedral City, said Sun was always laughing, polite, and would brighten up her day.

“I remember when he got his first car, a white Lancer Evolution. He came to school bragging,” she said.

Sun was a part of a group of four guys who all had white cars, called the "J-Spec" group, she said.

According to the Department of Defense, Sun was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

He entered the Army March 23, 2006, and joined the 2nd Brigrade Combat Team Aug. 13, 2006. He received the National Defense Service Medal.

His family owns the Palms Buffet in the Palm Springs Mall.

"My son was a good guy, nice looking," his father David Sun said. "He always made me smile. Now I'm trying to find a funeral home for my son."

January 11, 2007

Carson soldier killed in Iraq firefight

by TOM ROEDER, THE GAZETTE

A Fort Carson soldier died in a firefight in Iraq, the defense Department announced Thursday.

Pfc. Ming Sun, 20, from Cathedral City, Calif., was a Chinese immigrant who dropped out of college last year to join the infantry with aspirations of becoming a general, his father, Hong-Yuan Sun, said in a telephone interview.

The soldier was killed Tuesday on patrol with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in Ramadi, the scene of fierce fighting in recent weeks, when his unit was ambushed by insurgents with machine guns. President George Bush on Wednesday announced his plan to send 4,000 additional service members to the region around Ramadi to quell violence, which the president attributed to al-Qaida.

Sun came to America with his family when he was 8 years old and grew fascinated with the Army that defended his adoptive home. He graduated from high school in 2004 and started college classes, but he wanted something more, the elder Sun said.

“He really loved the Army, and he really wanted to fight for this country,” Sun said.

The young man enlisted in early 2006 to be a rifleman so he could be guaranteed a trip to Iraq to battle on the front lines. He came to Fort Carson in August and was here two months before being deployed.

His father said Sun got a letter of commendation for quick thinking in a Ramadi firefight when the private responded to an ambush by taking cover and blasting enemy positions with withering rifle fire.

Hong-Yuan Sun said he talked on the telephone with his son last week, and he said the younger Sun was happy in Iraq and was planning to re-enlist when his three-year term of duty expired.

“He wanted to be a general,” Sun said.

Pfc. Sun was also elated by his unit’s capture of a an al-Qaida operative suspected in the beheading of civilians in Ramadi. “He was so happy to tell me of this victory.”

Pfc. Sun was devoted to his family and hoped to renew bonds with relatives in China upon his return from war.

“He wanted to go to China with his 30-day leave,” his father said.

Now the Sun family is working to bring relatives in China to Southern California for the funeral.

Sun is survived by his parents and a sister.

He is the 77th 2nd Brigade soldier killed in Iraq, including nine who have died since the unit returned to war in October.

Since the war began in 2003, 182 Fort Carson soldiers have died, including 56 killed by small-arms fire.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com

HIS ASSHOLINESS (GEORGE WARMONGER BUSH) : "WHO CARES HOW MANY PEOPLE DIE !!!!!!!! As long as US Oil Companies get the Iraqi Oil, that's what really matters."