Army Maj. Charles R. Soltes Jr.

Died October 13, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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36, of Irvine, Calif.; assigned to the 426th Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, Upland, Calif.; killed Oct. 13 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle in Mosul, Iraq. Also killed was Lt. Col. Mark P. Phelan.

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Calif. civil affairs officer killed in Iraq

Associated Press

IRVINE, Calif. — An officer with the Army Reserve’s 426th Civil Affairs Battalion died in Mosul, Iraq, when an explosive device struck his convoy as it returned from a local hospital, the Army said Monday.

Maj. Charles R. Soltes Jr., 36, of Irvine, Calif., and Lt. Col. Mark P. Phelan, 44, of Green Lane, Pa., died Oct. 13 in the blast, according to an Army statement. Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Soltes, a Garden Grove optometrist in his civilian life, was working as a preventive health specialist with the battalion’s public health team. He was deployed in August with the Upland, Calif.-based battalion.

Soltes joined the Army Reserve in 1990 and served on active duty as an optometrist from July 1994 to September 1999. During that time, he served in Houston, South Korea and West Point, N.Y.

He was later assigned to the 7214th Medical Support Unit in Garden Grove while in the Army Reserve.

Soltes, who was awarded the Purple Heart, is survived by his wife, Sally, two sons and his parents.

A woman who answered the phone at Soltes’ house referred calls to another family member, who did not immediately return calls Monday.