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Stories of three heroes in Iraq
Registration required for the link. EFL. The soldiers who knew Capt. Brian Faunce well called him "Captain Shorty." Though he stood just 5 foot 4, he commanded with the authority of someone twice his size, a soldier said. "He took his job very seriously and he was a very outspoken person," said Sgt. Maj. Carlos Bassatt, who served with Faunce. "If he had to tell higher personnel that something was wrong, he would do that. It didnât matter to him as long as the mission got accomplished." Faunce, 28, of Philadelphia, died Sept. 18 in Al Asad, Iraq. He was moving in a Bradley fighting vehicle when he grabbed a power line and was electrocuted, the Department of Defense said. He joined the military five years ago after graduating from Penn State University, where he was in the ROTC program, Bassatt said. He married his wife, Sheryl, two years ago. Faunce was a dedicated soldier who often worked late into the night to get a job done, Bassatt said. "Whenever everybody else was gone, heâd still be working," he said. "He went out of his way to make sure the work got done and his soldiers were taken care of." Faunce was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, based at Ft. Carson, Colo. Whether it was pheasant, quail, elk, moose or even Florida boar, Capt. Robert Lucero hunted it. "He loved the outdoors. It wasnât even about going out and killing something," said Maj. Guy Beaudoin, who served with Lucero in the Wyoming National Guard. "It was about the camaraderie that goes with hunting and about being out there with his friends." Lucero, 34, of Casper, Wyo., was killed Sept. 25 in Tikrit, Iraq, after being struck by an improvised explosive. Lucero enlisted in the Army in 1986 and served in Desert Storm before joining the guard, Beaudoin said. He had a degree in environmental engineering and in civilian life was a consultant. "Heâd be what youâd consider an all-American kind of boy," Beaudoin said. "Heâs the kind of guy that if you saw him, youâd say, `He was probably a great heartbreaker.â" Lucero--who had a wife, Sherry--was assigned to the Army National Guardâs 4th Infantry Division Rear Area Operation Center, based in Casper. Spec. Alyssa Peterson, 27, a language expert from Flagstaff, Ariz., was killed Sept. 15 in Telafar, Iraq, by a non-combat weapons discharge, the Department of Defense said. Her death is being investigated. Peterson had a strong sense of fairness and duty. When she was a student at Flagstaff High School, Peterson once sat out part of a soccer game in protest because other less-talented teammates were being left off the field, said Windy Shaffer, a friend and teammate. "She had this social awareness and sense of what was right that really set her apart," Shaffer said. Peterson earned a degree in psychology from Northern Arizona University in 2001, Shaffer said, and joined the military to learn languages. She had been in Iraq since July as an Arabic translator. "She was very talented and had very high standards for her own conduct and character," said her mother, Bobbi. Peterson was assigned to C Company, 311th Military Intelligence Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), at Ft. Campbell, Ky. God bless âem, every one. Posted by: Steve White 2003-10-05 |
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