Army Pfc. Jesse D. Mizener

Died January 7, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Auburn, Calif.; assigned to the 542nd Maintenance Company, 44th Corps Support Battalion, 593rd Corps Support Group, Fort Lewis, Wash.; killed Jan. 7 when a mortar round hit the Logistics Base in Baghdad.

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Northern California soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

AUBURN, Calif. — A Northern California soldier died this week when a mortar round hit a Baghdad-area logistics base, officials said.

Pfc. Jesse D. Mizener, 24, died Jan. 7, the Department of Defense said.

In November, Mizener told The Auburn Journal newspaper that the mortar attacks were unsettling and all too common in Iraq.

“You miss home the most when you get mortared,” he told the newspaper. “It gets scary, especially when you see it land and see how close it is. That’s when you really think about home a lot.”

He is survived by his wife, Nicole, two daughters, ages 2 and 1, and a 2-month-old son, all of Auburn, Calif., about 35 miles east of Sacramento.

Mizener attended Bear Creek High School in Stockton, Calif., where his parents still live, said family spokeswoman Cindee DeGolia. The family declined to comment, but planned to hold a news conference in Stockton.

Mizener returned home in November in time for the birth of his son, his brother, Brian Mizener, told The Stockton Record newspaper. He was scheduled to come home for good soon, his brother said.

“We stopped worrying; his time was so short,” Brian Mizener told the newspaper.

Mizener, a construction equipment repairer, was assigned to the 542nd Maintenance Company, 44th Corps Support Battalion, 593rd Corps Support Group based at Fort Lewis.

His unit provides direct support and maintenance of Humvees, weapons, communications equipment and generators, said Brendalyn Carpenter, a spokeswoman for Fort Lewis.

During this deployment in Iraq, Mizener’s unit was attached to the 541st Maintenance Battalion, 3rd Corps Support Command, Carpenter said.