Army Spc. Edgar P. Daclan Jr.

Died September 10, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Cypress, Calif.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, based in Schweinfurt, Germany; killed Sept. 10 by an improvised explosive device as his patrol was responding to indirect fire in Balad, Iraq.

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Torrance family mourns immigrant soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

TORRANCE, Calif. — Spc. Edgar Daclan Jr., an immigrant from the Philippines, surprised his family by joining the Army when he was just one semester away from graduating from college with a degree in electrical engineering.

But Daclan, a 24-year-old medic killed in Iraq on Friday, adapted quickly to the military.

“Wherever the troops were, that’s where he was,” said Iris Daclan, 26, his older sister. “He knew it was dangerous. I told him we were in a war, but he wanted to join. And his platoon commander told us that he never saw fear in his eyes.”

Daclan, the only boy of five siblings, moved to the United States in 1993. His tight-knit extended family lived in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance.

In 2002, he and three cousins moved to Cypress, where Edgar took on the role of the head of the household.

“He decided to live with us so he could take care of us,” Rashel Daclan, 23, recalls. “We had just moved here from the Philippines, and he cooked for us, picked us up from school and showed us around Orange County. He was really proud because he loved this country.”

He was a student at California State University, Long Beach, before he enlisted in the Army. Daclan was scheduled to return to the United States for a 15-day leave on Sept. 25. “He sacrificed so much for us, and there’s still a lot of shock,” said cousin Jovie Daclan, 20. “We are still holding on to him.”