Marine Cpl. Adrian V. Soltau

Died September 13, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Milwaukee; assigned to 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Sept. 13 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Wisconsin’s 21st soldier killed in Iraq laid to rest

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE — Pride, bravery and honor.

Relatives and friends of Cpl. Adrian Soltau used those words to describe the fallen Marine as he was laid to rest.

“Our nation lost a brave hero, and he will not be forgotten,” said Staff Sgt. V. Wyeth, who served with Soltau.

Wyeth delivered messages of praise from Soltau’s fellow Marines in A Company, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marines, during Soltau’s funeral at Christian Faith Fellowship Church on Sept. 23.

Soltau, 21, died in an explosion Sept. 13, during his second tour of duty in Iraq. He was the 21st Wisconsin soldier to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Soltau enlisted in the Marine Corps in August 2001, shortly after graduating from Milwaukee Madison High School and two years after his older brother, Andre, joined the corps.

“Everything we did, we tried to do out best,” said Andre Soltau as he talked to his late brother. “We’ll all come see you again. Follow me, keep following me.”

Military and elected officials joined relatives and friends who packed the church for Soltau’s funeral.

Later, at Wood National Cemetery, the sound of taps drifted off into the wind as Andre Soltau, standing straight and solid in his military uniform, held his final salute to his younger brother.

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Family confirms death of Marine in Iraq

MILWAUKEE — A Marine from Wisconsin has died in the fighting around Fallujah, Iraq, his family confirmed.

Cpl. Adrian Soltau, 21, a graduate of Milwaukee Madison High School who followed an older brother in joining the Marine Corps, was killed in an explosion Monday, the family said Wednesday.

Andrew Soltau said he last spoke to his son by telephone Saturday.

“He told me this was his last mission before he comes home, and I told him not to say that,” the elder Soltau said. “I didn’t like those words, ‘his last mission,’ and I told him to call me when he gets back. But he will not call me now.”

The family was notified of the death late Monday night.

“I knew what it was when those servicemen were at the door. I just started crying,” said Lakiesha Perry, 24, one of Adrian Soltau’s seven siblings.

“He believed in fighting for his country, and to me that makes him a hero,” said their mother, Desiree Soltau. “That makes all of them who are there heroes.

“I certainly don’t feel bitterness or hatred right now. I’m proud of him and what he’s done for us.”

— Associated Press

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Wisconsin Marine killed in Iraq mourned

MILWAUKEE — A 21-year-old Marine killed during his second deployment to Iraq was remembered by family members Thursday as a loving, intelligent and competitive young man.

Cpl. Adrian V. Soltau, of Milwaukee, died Monday from injuries caused by an explosion in Iraq’s Anbar province, according to Marine Corps officials.

He was a motor transport driver with the 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Soltau joined the Marine Corps in August 2001 after graduating from Milwaukee Madison High School.

“Adrian was an overall very loving, intelligent person,” said his father Andrew Soltau, who learned of the death when servicemen came to his home late Monday night.

Adrian became very competitive with his brother, who was two years ahead of him in high school, the elder Soltau said. He was on the football, baseball and chess teams at high school and was an honor roll student.

Adrian set his sights on joining the Marine Corps after his brother, Cpl. Andre Soltau, now 22, joined the Corps in 1999.

Andre said he tried to talk his brother out of it, telling him every 10 years the Marines are involved in a major conflict, but his brother ended up destined for boot camp on the same date he had gone, but two years later.

The two brothers were both sent to Iraq last year: Adrian from January to July, and Andre from February to May.

“We were there when everything kicked off,” Andre recalled. “We knew it kicked off and all we could do was to pray, move, follow orders, hoping that we would come home.”

Adrian was deployed again in February. After spending his 21st birthday in Iraq, Adrian had planned to visit Jamaica with his brother and a few cousins at Christmas, Andre said.

Moving to the United States from Jamaica at 10, Adrian dreamed of becoming an electronic engineer, his father said.

“As a young kid he had that choice to go to college,” he said. “He chose to serve his country first and in that manner.”

And he remembers the last time he heard from his son, in a phone call on Saturday.

“It’s a tape recorder right now in my head,” he said.

He said Adrian told him he was serving on his last mission, and he told his son not to say that.

“I said, ‘Be careful, take care of yourself, and call me this weekend when you come back.’ That’s a phone call I would never receive.”

But the father said he has no regrets and supports his son’s decision to join the military.

“I’m very proud of him and I will continue to hold my head high as I have in the last 21 years,” he said. “He’s a proud Marine. He’s my hero.”

Adrian’s military awards include the Combat Action Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the National Defense Service Medal, according to the Marine Corps.

— Associated Press