Army Sgt. Diego A. Solorzano-Valdovinos

Died October 29, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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24, of Huntington Park, Calif.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 506nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Oct. 29 in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit on Oct. 27 with small arms fire in Yahya Khel district, Afghanistan.

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‘Sgt. Solo’ looked out for his ‘brothers’

The Associated Press

The last time Diego Solorzano-Valdovinos talked to his mother, she told him to be careful.

He responded by saying he was a “sheep dog” who had to look after his “brothers.”

The 24-year-old soldier from Huntington Park, Calif., died Oct. 29 in Landstuhl, Germany, where he was being treated after insurgents attacked his unit two days earlier in the Yahya Khel district of Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, he was the leader an infantry team made up of grenadiers and riflemen.

“His only thought,” Maj. Bradd Schultz wrote to The Los Angeles Times after the soldier’s death, “was about protecting his fellow soldiers from enemy fire.”

Known as “Sgt. Solo,” Solorzano Valdovinos decided in 2006 to join the Army.

“I think he wanted some excitement in his life,” Patricia Valdovinos told the Times. “I couldn’t do anything. He was old enough.”

He wanted to save his money and buy a house after his military service ended.