Army Pfc. John G. Borbonus

Died April 12, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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19, of Boise, Idaho; assigned to the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska; died April 12 in Baghdad, when his patrol encountered an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Army Cpl. Cody A. Putnam.

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Soldier from Boise killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho — A soldier from Boise has been killed in Iraq, his mother told the Idaho Statesman.

John Borbonus, 19, was a 2005 graduate from Boise High School and would have turned 20 next month. His mother, Maggie Borbonus, said he was killed April 12.

Information on his Army unit was not immediately available.

His death marks the third wartime death from Idaho in a week and the 25th since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003.

Messages left with his family April 13 by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.

On April 6, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis Ralph Hall, who was 24, was killed in enemy action while conducting combat operations near Kirkuk.

The next day, Navy Cmdr. Philip A. Murphy-Sweet, from Caldwell, died near Baghdad.

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ID paratrooper who died in Iraq hailed as hero

The Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho — A 19-year-old Army paratrooper who died trying to save others as an explosives-laden truck raced toward him in Baghdad was hailed as a hero April 23 at his funeral.

Maggie and Hans Borbonus, the parents of John Borbonus, wiped away tears as they accepted his Bronze Star for “heroic or meritorious achievement” during battle.

Nearly 1,000 people filled St. John’s Cathedral for the funeral; several hundred followed to Cloverdale Memorial Park, where Borbonus was buried with full military honors.

According to military reports, Borbonus was working April 12 as a guard near a patrol base in south Baghdad and was manning a machine gun when a dump truck full of explosives sped toward the southern end of the base. Borbonus held his position and shot and killed the driver, saving many soldiers’ lives, officials said. The bomb on the truck detonated and caused multiple buildings to collapse, according to Army reports. Another soldier also died when the truck bomb detonated, and seven paratroopers were injured.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter was among those in attendance April 23.

“I knew John since he was a little boy — he was a good person,” Maria Lopez told the Idaho Statesman as she watched the crowd gather for the burial service. Her husband has worked with Borbonus’ father for over a decade.

“I can’t even imagine what it must be like for his parents,” she said. “My son is 17, and he is going into the Navy when school is over. It’s so difficult, because he really wants to serve his country and protect his family. But now, I am thinking, this could easily be my son.”

Borbonus, a 2005 Boise High School graduate, had been in Iraq for about a year.

“Things have been rough here, but I should be able to make it out without too much difficulty,” he wrote to his aunt, Heidi Borbonus, who read from the letter at the service.