Army Spc. Ramon C. Ojeda

Died May 1, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Ramona, Calif.; assigned to the 84th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii; killed May 1 when his convoy was attacked in Amarah, Iraq.

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Spc. Ramon C. Ojeda seemed destined to serve in the military. When he joined the ROTC as a high school student, "he was the only one who had perfect creases in his pants," recalled his sister, Celia St. Germain. "He always held the flag. It meant the world to him." Ojeda, 22, of Ramona, Calif., was killed May 1 when his convoy came under attack in Iraq. He was based in Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. "He was a very lovable person," said his father, Joaquin Ojeda of Santa Ysabel. "He would hug me. He would kiss me. He would sit on his mother's lap. I'm really sorry I won't get to hold him again." A sister, Evangelina Ojeda of Anaheim, said her brother "used to run into the kitchen and grab my mother from behind and kiss her on the neck and fling her around in circles." Ojeda served in the same unit as his wife, Lesliee, whom he married in October. The couple has a 14-month-old son.

— Associated Press