DoD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pfc. Jessica Y. Sarandrea, 22, of Miami, Fla., died March 3 in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked her forward operating base with mortar fire. She was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
Sgt. Jeffrey A. Reed, 23, of Chesterfield, Va., died March 2 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was struck by a grenade in Taji, Iraq. He was assigned to the 411th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.
Please let me tell you a little about them:
Pfc. Jessica Y. Sarandrea
Pfc. Jessica Y. Sarandrea, 22, re-enlisted after serving four years in the Army so she could be near her husband, Alejandro "Alex" Sarandrea. He trains soldiers to defend themselves against chemical and biological attacks. Alex told the Miami Herald
''I know what a wonderful person she was,'' said Sarandrea. "I will always carry her memory in my heart.'' The two met in Kuwait on a prior deployment. Sarandrea told the young woman she looked familiar to him. She said she did not recognize him, but later, when the two met again, ''we started talking. It turned out we were both from Miami, from almost the same region,'' Sarandrea said.
''We ended up getting married out there,'' said Sarandrea.
Pfc. Sarandrea was mortally wounded when pieces of shrapnel from a mortar exploded near her as she was returning to her office to get her gear.
Messages left on a memory board dedicated to Jessica mentioned her friendliness and the concern she showed her fellow soldiers.
Rest in peace, Pfc. Sarandrea.
Sgt.Jeffrey A. Reed
Sgt. Reed loved sports...especially soccer. When he got to Iraq, he was saddened to see the Iraqi children playing with deflated balls or empty soda bottles, so he organized a big shipment of soccer equipment to be shipped from his hometown. He could often be found playing soccer with the children and his fellow soldiers, according to a story in the Washington Post.
Sgt. Reed, 23, married his high school sweetheart, Ashley, four years ago. She recalled how they met:
They met at a restaurant where they both worked -- he as a dishwasher and she as a waitress. He was shy, so she made the first move.
"I kind of tricked him into going on a date with me," Ashley Reed said. She and the hostess told him that a bunch of friends were going to go out together. Would he like to come along?
"At the last minute, they all cancelled," Ashley Reed said, leaving the two of them alone.
She didn't have to resort to tricks for very long.
They were married right before he deployed for Iraq the first time. Sgt. Reed was just 15 days from coming home from his second tour of duty in Iraq when the vehicle in which he was riding was struck by a grenade.
Sgt. Reed's father told the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
...he is comforted by conversations he has had in the past several days with soldiers who worked with his son.
"He was just beloved. Three of his soldiers called me yesterday on speakerphone to express their sadness and to let us know how much he meant to them. They told me they were devastated. That meant a lot to us as parents," he said.
Rest in peace, Sgt. Reed.
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