Army Spc. Justin B. Onwordi

Died August 2, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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28, of Chandler, Ariz.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed while on patrol Aug. 2 when an improvised explosive device detonated near the vehicle in Baghdad.

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Arizona soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

PHOENIX — An Arizona soldier was killed in Iraq after an explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad, the U.S. Department of Defense said.

Spc. Justin B. Onwordi, 28, of Chandler, was on patrol Monday when the device exploded.

Onwordi died Monday and another soldier who was on patrol with him, Pfc. Harry N. Shondee Jr., 19, of Ganado, died Tuesday, authorities said.

Both men were assigned to the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 12th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, and were stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.

Onwordi started his tour of duty in Iraq in January. He got two weeks’ leave on June 23 to visit his 25-year-old wife, Monique, who gave birth to a baby boy named Jonathan on July 7.

Onwordi was scheduled to return to Iraq on July 9 but was allowed to stay with his wife and child for four more days.

Onwordi’s family said he came to the United States from Nigeria in July 2000 and started Army training in South Carolina six months later.

He met his wife when they both were in military training.

The 6-foot-4 Onwordi played soccer for fun, loved many kinds of music and “was almost always smiling,” said his sister-in-law, Ramona Onwordi. “That’s how I remember him.”

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Soldier killed in Iraq remembered for service to adopted homeland

PHOENIX — Hundreds of people attended a memorial in Mesa to commemorate the life and military service of a 28-year-old Chandler man who was killed Aug. 2 when a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad.

Family and friends remembered Spc. Justin Bialiolisa Onwordi on Saturday as a happy, loving man who was living his dreams.

“He died because he believed in what he was doing, because he wanted to change lives,” said his brother, Uzor Onwordi, of Chandler, during the ceremony.

Onwordi had been serving in Iraq since January and recently returned to the states for the July 7 birth of his son, Jonathan.

Family members say Onwordi, a native of Lagos, Nigeria, grew up around the military and aspired to serve even as a small child. He moved to the U.S. in 2000 with one goal: to enlist.

He leaves behind a wife, Monique, and an infant son.

— Associated Press