Army Sgt. Melissa Valles

Died July 9, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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26, Eagle Pass, Texas; assigned to Company B, 64th Forward Support Battalion, Fort Carson, Col.; died of non-combat-related injuries July 9 in Balad, Iraq.

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South Texas mother continues seeking answers in soldier’s death

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO — One week after an Army sergeant from Eagle Pass, Texas, was buried with military honors, her mother still has one question for the Army.

How did Sgt. Melissa Valles die?

Military officials have said that Valles, who was with the headquarters detachment of the 64th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat team, died from a noncombat gunshot wound to her abdomen on July 9 while stationed in Balad, Iraq.

But how she sustained the wound remains unknown.

Completion of a report on Valles’ death could be weeks away, said Army spokeswoman Martha Rudd.

Another soldier from Valles’ unit, based in Fort Carson, Colo., was killed by a noncombat wound two days before her. Rudd said the Army has suffered 51 non-hostile deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom and many remain under investigation.

Marianita Valles of Eagle Pass said she believes her daughter was killed in an accident. But the uncertainty will not escape her until she receives an official Army report.

“I need to know exactly what happened, whether it was an accident or if she came under attack,” Valles, 50, told the San Antonio Express-News. “I will feel relieved when I have the report.”

The ongoing military investigation into the death of her 26-year-old daughter has prompted questions for family members. They say they have received updates from Army officials — but no conclusion.

“My head has been spinning and spinning,” Valles’ mother said by phone Thursday. “I don’t know what to think.”

She said Maj. Gen. Alfred A. Valenzuela, commander of U.S. Army South, assured her when he attended services for her daughter in Eagle Pass that the shooting was accidental.

“It was not the (suicide) rumors that we’d heard,” she said. “He made that clear to me.”

The soldier’s brother, Jesus, also met with Valenzuela. But he said he was not satisfied with the answers he received.

“It cost my sister’s life. I want to know what happened,” he said. “For my mom, it’s very hard; she cries every day in the morning.”

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Second U.S. servicewoman dies in the Iraq war

An Army sergeant killed by a gunshot wound in Iraq became the second U.S. servicewoman to die in the war.

Sgt. Melissa Valles, 26, of Eagle Pass, Texas, died Wednesday from non-combat injuries, according to the Defense Department. The accident in Balad, a city 55 miles north of Baghdad, was under investigation and details were not released.

Valles was with the headquarters detachment of 64th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, Fort Carson, Colo., officials said Friday.

“We know it is a gunshot wound to the abdomen. We just don’t know the circumstances,” said Lt. Col. Tom Budzyna, base spokesman.

The first woman to die in the Iraq war was Pfc. Lori Piestewa, 22, of Tuba City, Ariz., who was killed March 23. She was with Pfc. Jessica Lynch when their Humvee crashed into another vehicle.

— Associated Press

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Fort Carson servicewoman fatally wounded in Iraq

EAGLE PASS, Texas — An Army sergeant from Eagle Pass and based at Fort Carson, Colo., has died from a gunshot wound in Iraq, military officials said Friday. She is the second U.S. servicewoman to die in the war.

Sgt. Melissa Valles, 26, died July 9 from non-combat injuries in Balad, according to the Defense Department. The accident was under investigation and details were not released.

“Right now, we don’t have that much information,” said her sister, Maribel Valles, 24, of San Antonio. “All we know is that she passed away. We don’t know what happened.”

Melissa Valles was with the headquarters detachment of 64th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, Fort Carson officials said.

She is Fort Carson’s 12th fatality in Iraq and the base’s first female soldier to die there.

“We know it is a gunshot wound to the abdomen. We just don’t know the circumstances,” said Lt. Col. Tom Budzyna, base spokesman.

Family members, mother Marianita Valles, 50, and stepfather Carlos Gomez, were notified about 5 a.m. Wednesday, Maribel Valles said. “My mother’s pretty upset,” Maribel Valles said.

Melissa Valles talked to her mother Sunday but did not indicate when she would be returning from Iraq.

Since the war had ended, “we were not expecting this,” Maribel Valles said. “I saw her as big sister and my best friend.”

Melissa Valles graduated from Eagle Pass High School in 1995 with honors and played on the basketball team.

She was in the military six years and had just re-enlisted for an additional two years, Maribel Valles said. “She was dedicated to the Army; she did a lot in so little time.”

Melissa Valles had been stationed in Iraq for about three months.

Lt. Col. Cynthia Colin, a Pentagon spokeswoman, confirmed that Valles was the second U.S. servicewoman to die in Iraq.

The first was Pfc. Lori Piestewa, 22, of Tuba City, Ariz., who was killed March 23 when the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas, near El Paso, Texas, was ambushed March 23 near the southern Iraq riverfront city of Nasiriyah. Piestewa was with Pfc. Jessica Lynch when their Humvee crashed into another vehicle.

— Associated Press

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Family of first Texas woman killed in Iraq still seeks answers

Sixteen months have passed since Sgt. Melissa Valles gave her life for her country.

Still, the pain, anger and unanswered questions persist for the Eagle Pass, Texas, native’s grieving mother and siblings.

“We’re still looking for some answers. We’re still trying to find out what really happened,” said Fernando Valles Jr., one of the soldier’s two older brothers.

Valles, 26, was the first female soldier from Texas killed in Iraq. She died July 9, 2003, from a noncombat gunshot wound to her abdomen while stationed in Balad.

Two other women are among the 100 Texans who have died in the Iraq war.

Pfc. Analaura Esparza Gutierrez, 21, of Houston, was the first female casualty for the Fort Hood-based 4th Infantry Division. She died Oct. 1, 2003, when a roadside bomb struck her Humvee near Tikrit, the hometown of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

Sgt. Isela Rubalcava, 25, of El Paso, died May 8 in Mosul when a mortar round hit near her. She was a supply technician with the 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash.

The family of Melissa Valles, who was with the headquarters detachment of the 64th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat team from Fort Carson, Colo., has said military officials told them her death was accidental.

But the Army has not disclosed details about the wound, Fernando Valles Jr. said.

“She sacrificed her life and served her country real proudly,” he said. “For them to pay us back this way, it’s not fair. It’s not fair to her. It’s not fair for the country.”

Maj. Elizabeth Robbins with Army Public Affairs said she could not discuss the details of Valles’ case. However, Robbins said the Army briefs relatives on investigations into soldiers’ deaths.

All three of the Texas soldiers were single Hispanic women in their 20s. They were respected, dedicated soldiers, according to people who knew them.

In letters to her parents, Esparza Gutierrez wrote about visiting a lavish palace of Saddam and her happiness about joining the military in 2002.

Born in Mexico, Esparza Gutierrez moved to the United States when she was 7. After graduating from high school, she enlisted in the Army with dreams of becoming a psychologist. After the war, she hoped to return home, enroll in college and pursue a degree from the University of Houston. She was engaged to a fellow soldier.

“We were deeply moved when we lost Analaura Esparza,” Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division, said last year. “This is not to say we are not moved when we lose a male soldier, but her loss deeply affected us in additional ways.”

Rubalcava attended the University of Texas at El Paso and Sul Ross State University before joining the Army in 2000.

Basilio Laboy, Rubalcava’s friend and fellow soldier, told the El Paso Times after her death that she would be remembered as a true soldier.

“When she put on those BDUs (battle dress uniforms), she came to work. She was a leader,” Laboy said. “A first sergeant and I once said that she’s as tough as nails, as hard as steel and as compassionate as a nun. It’s a great combination.”

Likewise, Melissa Valles’ military skills were praised.

“When she came in, she was squared away. Total soldier. She always showed proper respect and always was pushing the troops,” said Sgt. 1st Class Cathy Mihm, who worked down the hall from Valles at Fort Carson.

Growing up in Eagle Pass, south of San Antonio on the Mexico border, younger sister Maribel Valles said, the 5-foot-3 Melissa Valles assumed the role of head of the household even though she had two older brothers.

“She was petite, but she was a really tough lady,” Maribel Valles said last year. “She really put people in their place. She did that since she was a girl. She would put little boys who were bullies in their place.”

— Associated Press