Army Cpl. Demetrius L. Rice

Died July 14, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Ortonville, Minn.; assigned to 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.; killed July 14 when his vehicle rolled over as the driver tried to avoid another vehicle in Talafar, Iraq.

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Minnesota soldier dies in Iraq vehicle accident

Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS — A soldier from Minnesota died in Iraq when the vehicle he was in swerved to miss an oncoming truck and rolled over.

Cpl. Demetrius Lamont Rice, 24, of Ortonville, Minn., died Wednesday in the rollover near Talafar, 45 miles from Mosul in northern Iraq, the Department of Defense said Friday.

His vehicle went off the road and rolled down an embankment.

Rice was the ninth Minnesota soldier killed in Iraq.

Valorie Rice, Demetrius’ mother, moved with her children to Minnesota from Chicago nearly 11 years ago in hopes of providing them with a better life.

Rice’s younger sister, Briana Rice, of Appleton, said her grandmother in suburban Chicago called her Wednesday with the news.

“She just told me that he was gone,” Briana Rice said.

Rice joined the Army in April 2001 and was a member of the 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., Army spokesman Sgt. Maj. J.C. Mathews said.

Another soldier, Pfc. Jesse Martinez of Tracy, Calif., also died in the crash. They were assigned to the Stryker Brigade combat team. Two other soldiers were injured.

Rice and Martinez were inside a Stryker, the $2 million infantry carriers that are getting their first combat test in Iraq.

The soldiers were on their way to help set up a traffic control point when the Stryker swerved to avoid the oncoming civilian fuel truck, said Lt. Col. Joseph Piek, the brigade spokesman.

Rice attended Ortonville High School and was “a good kid,” said principal Terry Rheingans. He said Rice was proud to be a soldier.

While her son was in Iraq, Valorie Rice would use her three-way calling plan to link up Rice with any relatives she could reach — his grandmother, aunts and uncles. They would discuss how the family was doing and “try to keep his spirits up,” she said.

She remembers the last time she spoke with her son.

“He sounded down. I think he was tired of being over there,” she said. “He was ready to come home, like a lot of them. But he knew why he was there, why this needed to be done.”

Services for Rice will be held Tuesday at Fort Lewis and Thursday in Chicago, his mother said.