Facing Our Losses - Iraq 2006

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2,942nd to die: Dec. 15, 2006 -Army Staff Sgt. Henry Kahalewai Jr., 44, a Fort Lewis Stryker leader whose family lived in Tacoma, died in a Texas hospital of injuries he received in Iraq two weeks earlier, when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle. "The military, the Army, that was his thing," said his son Aaron. Though hed served almost two decades, "He was about ready to retire," the son said. Kahalewai was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, and enlisted in the Army because job and career opportunities were limited at the time, said his cousin, Joe Aguiar. "He wasn't comfortable, and he decided, well, he liked the military life," Aguiar said. Kahalewai has a grown son, and two daughters who live with his widow Debbie in Tacoma.

2,913th to die: Dec. 6, 2006Marine Maj. Megan M. McClung, 34, of Coupeville, Island County, the first female Marine officer to die in the war, was killed while escorting journalists during combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. A public affairs officer stationed at Camp Pendleton, McClung, who grew up in California, was also the highest-ranking military woman killed in Iraq. She died while escorting an embedded crew from Newsweek magazine. She had just dropped off TV host Oliver North and a FOX News crew before she was killed by a roadside bomb. "She was a Marine's Marine," said Camp Pendleton spokesperson Navy Lt. Commander Cliff Carnes. "She exemplified everything that it was to be a warrior, she was a great personality and a great friend." McClung was remembered by many journalists for her assistance. Lawrence Kaplan of The New Republic called her his "guardian angel." She "did a difficult job cheerfully, and she did it well," he noted. Her parents, Michael and Re McClung of Coupeville, said their daughter, a 1995 Annapolis grad, rejoined the service last year so she could serve in Iraq. "She wanted to get the message out about the courageous folks who are there doing their job," said her mother.

2,910th to die: Dec. 5, 2006 Army Spc. Jordan W. Hess, 26, of Marysville, died at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio of injuries suffered Nov. 11 in Ta'Meem, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his tank while on combat patrol. Hess, who was driving the tank, was assigned to the 77th Armor Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany. His parents and many of his seven siblings were in San Antonio when he died. "He told us he loved us," said his father, Bill Hess, a Boeing engineer and Air Force veteran. Young Hess had been planning to marry a woman he met in Germany, his family said. He attended Lake Stevens High School and later obtained his GED in Marysville. He had been a top prep wrestler with a creative side. "He liked to make things," said his father. "He was a free spirit and did the things he wanted to do."

2,903rd to die: Dec. 3, 2006Army Cpl. Billy B. Farris, 20, of Bapchule, Ariz., stationed at Fort Lewis, died in Taji, Iraq, of injuries from a roadside bomb. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion Stryker Brigade. Farris was in a convoy traveling to Baghdad when the bomb exploded beneath his vehicle. "I was so sure he'd be coming home," said his mother, Elizabeth Antone, "that it would be somehow the angels would really watch over him and guide him away from explosions." Farris attended high school in a small Arizona Indian community for two years and graduated from the Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Ore., before joining the Army in 2004. His father, Larry, remembered his son as "a warrior. He knew what he was getting into and he was proud of what he had to do for our country." Farris had an infant son, who lives with his mother in Alaska.

2,854th to die: Nov. 14, 2006 -Army Spc. Justin R. Garcia, 26, a Fort Lewis Stryker soldier from Elmhurst, New York, was killed by a roadside bomb that struck his humvee in Baghdad. He was a member of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. His widow, Michelle Garcia, who is pregnant with their first child, said Garcia lost his parents as a teen and had lived "a rough life" growing up in Queens. "All he wanted was his [future] son to grow up with a father." His stepfather, Vincent Narcisco, recalled that Garcia "wanted to serve his country, especially after 9/11. He was a good kid. He was sincere ... He was brave."

2,778th to die: Oct. 17, 2006Army Staff Sgt. Ronald L. Paulsen, 53, of Vancouver, died Oct. 17 in Tarmiya, Iraq after a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle. Paulsen was assigned to the Army Reserve's 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, Utica, N.Y. He was called up last year after he had served in the active Army for 14 years and left in 1992. He was, at this time, the oldest solider from Washington to die in Iraq. "Ron was a very well-respected, very well-liked guy," said Scott Eave, his former employer at a heavy construction firm in Portland. "He was one of those guys who is a part of this place." His widow, Beverly, who married Paulsen in February, recalled him as "a very loving, caring man. We were best friends for 15 years." Beverly, who has a grown son, said Paulsen worked as an engineer in Iraq. "He took pictures of structures and took them to get bids so the Iraqi people could do the building. He was a great man, who will be greatly missed."