Army Spc. Peter G. Enos

Died April 9, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of South Dartmouth, Mass.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, in Schweinfurt, Germany; killed April 9 when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his patrol vehicle in Bayji, Iraq.

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Soldier’s wife says husband died for ‘lost’ cause

By Jay Lindsay

Associated Press

BOSTON — The wife of an Army specialist killed in Iraq said Tuesday that her husband was killed by “an ungrateful people” as he fought for a cause “that has lost all meaning.”

Spc. Peter Enos, 24, died on Friday in Bayji, Iraq, when his patrol vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Bayji is in the “Sunni Triangle,” an area north and west of Baghdad where Iraq’s Sunni Muslims are dominant and most attacks against U.S. forces have taken place.

Shannon Enos, 22, last spoke to her husband last Wednesday, when he expressed doubts about the mission in Iraq.

“The people there seemed to be so ungrateful for all the things the Americans are doing for them,” Shannon Enos said. “I feel that Peter’s life was taken by an ungrateful people and for a cause that has lost all meaning.”

Peter Enos is the son of Joseph and Deborah Enos. He and Shannon had a 6-month-old son, Marcus.

“He was a great child, he was a fantastic person, a wonderful person,” Deborah Enos said of her son.

Peter Enos was a kind husband and father, his wife said. He was extremely handy, she said, and loved to take things apart to see how they worked.

“He was loved so much and his loss has left an unrepairable hole in my heart and his parents’ as well,” she said.

Shannon Enos said her husband believed in his country and was willing to undertake any mission he was assigned. Before he left for Iraq about two months ago, he was convinced that the military was serving a noble purpose there. But he became disillusioned during his time there, she said.

Shannon Enos said she hoped to hear President Bush discuss his exit strategy from Iraq during a press briefing scheduled for Tuesday night.

“My hope is I want to hear that the troops are coming home,” she said. “I want to stop hearing about extensions.”

Enos was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Enos is at least the 13th Massachusetts resident to die in the war in Iraq.

As of Tuesday, 671 U.S. service members had died since the beginning of operations in Iraq last year, according to the military.

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Dartmouth soldier killed in Iraq

DARTMOUTH, Mass. — An Army specialist from Dartmouth died when the patrol vehicle he was riding in was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, the Department of Defense announced. Spc. Peter G. Enos, 24, died Friday in Bayji, Iraq, which is about 120 miles north of Baghdad.

Bayji, a city of about 80,000 people, is in the so-called “Sunni Triangle,” an area northwest of Baghdad where Iraq’s Sunni Muslims are dominant and most attacks against U.S. forces have taken place.

Enos is the son of Joseph and Deborah Enos. He also was married.

“He was a great child, he was a fantastic person, a wonderful person,” his mother said on Monday.

Enos was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Infantry Division based in Schweinfurt, Germany.

— Associated Press