Marine Cpl. Jaygee Meluat

Died September 13, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Tamuning, Guam; 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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Died on daughter’s 3rd birthday

The Associated Press

Jaygee Meluat and his wife, Melanie, playfully tried to predict the gender of the couple’s first baby. He wanted a girl; she wanted a boy. But he had to miss the birth due to training.

“When I gave birth to our daughter he called me and teased me: ‘I told you we would have a girl, I don’t know why you never listen to me.’ He said that since he got his baby girl I could name her,” Melanie said.

She named the baby MiaCai in honor of the proud new father. She said “mia” means “mine” and “cai” means “girl.”

Jaygee Meluat, 24, of Tamuning, Guam, was killed Sept. 13 in Iraq’s Anbar province. The day he died was their daughter’s third birthday.

Meluat was a native of Palau, the youngest of 12 children, and had moved to Guam as a teenager to live with one of his older sisters. He graduated George Washington High School in 1999 and was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

His former principal, Patricia Bennett, said she remembered Meluat, whom she described as a smart and sunny student.

“He was one of the students you remembered because he was always laughing, smiling and joking when he was on campus,” Bennett said.