Army Sgt. Raul Moncada

Died April 13, 2009 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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29, of Madera, Calif.; assigned to the 563rd Military Police Company, 91st Military Police Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 13 near Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

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Served in Marines before transitioning to Army

The Associated Press

Raul Moncada enrolled in the Marines at age 17 — less than a week after graduating from high school. He was honored at one point as the youngest active-duty Marine in the country, his family has said.

“He was very outgoing. He would do anything he could for anybody,” said his sister, Miriam. “He was a great person all around. Everybody knew him. Everybody loved him.”

Moncada, 29, of Madera, Calif., was killed by a roadside bomb April 13 when his convoy came under attack as it was returning to a base in Baghdad. He was on his second tour.

“He was such a one-of-a-kind person,” said Cecilia Herrera, a longtime neighbor. “He was a polite person, a humble person.”

As the third-oldest in a family of eight children, he served in the Marines for six years before taking a one-year break. He returned to the military in June 2004 — this time in the Army’s military police program.

Moncada was assigned to Fort Drum. He loved playing baseball and was a fan of the Seattle Mariners and Dallas Cowboys.

He is survived by his 6-year-old daughter, Priscila; his girlfriend Tina; his father, Raul; and his mother, Obdulia.