3,070th to die: Jan. 26, 2007 - Army reserve Maj. Alan Johnson, 44, of Yakima, died from a roadside bomb in Balad that wounded four others. He was married and had a teenage daughter. Born in North Dakota, Johnson had worked as a shift sergeant with the Yakima County Corrections Department. “He oversaw all of the training...from the time someone was first hired,” recalled Mike Williams, his corrections supervisor, “firearms, defensive tactics, report writing ... he loved to teach. That was his passion.” In a statement, Johnson’s family said: “As a husband he was a leader, supporter, protector, and best friend – he was a knight in shining armor. As a father he mirrored the image of God in his ability to love unconditionally. All who knew him respected him. He is loved and will be deeply missed by his family and friends.”
3,065th to die: Jan 24, 2007 – Army Staff Sgt. Hector Leija, 27, a Fort Lewis Stryker solider from Houston, was fatally wounded in the kitchen of a Baghdad apartment that he and others were searching. According to his MySpace Web page, Leija joined the Army after high school in Raymondville. Texas, where he was a member of the National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Bible Club, FFA, Science Club and an athletic academic team. He also played football. “He got accepted to Baylor, he got accepted to everywhere, but he chose Army,” said his brother, Robert. Leija’s death was captured in a photo and video by the New York Times, initially causing a controversy between the paper and the Defense Department, threatening the Times’ embedded-reporter status.
3,055th to die: Jan. 21, 2007 – Army Cpl. Darrel J. Morris, 21, of Spokane, died while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Morris was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, at Camp Lejeune, N.C. “No old teacher should outlive his student,” said one of his former Ferris High instructors, Bill Christianson. Morris sent e-mails to Christianson every couple weeks, the teacher recalled, and was at the school in the summer of 2006 to recruit students into the military. His family said Morris opted to join the Marines after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “We raised him to want to help, to do better and to do more,” said his aunt, Kim Coles.
3,021st to die: Jan. 14, 2007 – Army Spc. James D. Riekena, 22, of Redmond, died in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle. Riekena was assigned to the 145th Brigade Support Battalion, Post Falls, Idaho. Born in Missoula, he graduated from Redmond High and joined the National Guard as a combat engineer. In Iraq, he was a bomb-locator specialist. “When he told us what he wanted to do, he said, ‘This is what fascinates me,’” recalled his mother, Pat McCune. “I said, ‘Can't you pick something safe like being a cook?’” Riekena planned on becoming an English teacher, said his family, and he loved writing home. In a letter to his grandparents in Missoula, he told of life in Iraq: “It's such an odd place. My heart aches at the sight of how they live, though from it, as all things in life, I continue to learn. Respect and appreciation for all that I have. To really cherish the smallest of things I never did before.”
3,007th to die: Jan. 6, 2007 – Army Cpl. Jeremiah J. Johnson, 23, of Vancouver, died from wounds suffered when his Humvee rolled over into a canal in Baghdad. Johnson was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, at Fort Richardson, Alaska. He survived for ten days after suffering critical brain injuries. “Bless his heart, we were with him to the end,” said his mother, Elizabeth. Johnson was married and had two children. “So many people prayed for a miracle, and people may think that a miracle did not happen,” his mother said. “But the miracle has happened through all the people that Jeremiah’s life has touched.” She noted that he was an organ donor, “so his legacy will go on.”
3,005th to die: Jan. 4, 2007 – Army Staff Sgt. Charles D. Allen, 28, a Fort Lewis medic from Wasilla, Alaska, was killed by small arms fire during combat operations in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 296th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, at Fort Lewis. Allen was an avid fisher and hunter growing up in Alaska, his family said. His father, Dave, remembered him as “a really good medic and he wanted to be out there giving the guys the best care they could get.” Said his widow, Kerensa: “Since I have known him, we've both been prepared for this because we both knew this is what he wants to do. He used to say ‘sacrifice the good of the few for the good of the many.’ He was all about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He was an extraordinary soldier, an extraordinary man.”
