PFC SEFERINO REYNA GOD REST YOUR SOUL, HERO |
Posted on 08/13/2005 12:37:18 PM PDT by SandRat
The Tohono O'odham Nation is grieving the death of a 20-year-old tribal member killed in action in Iraq.
Pfc. Seferino Reyna, an Army combat engineer and father of two, died Sunday when his vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb near Taji, about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad.
"This is a tragic loss for the Reyna family, and the entire Tohono O'odham Nation mourns," said Vivian Juan-Saunders, chairwoman of the nation.
Reyna was the first O'odham member killed in Iraq. He is the 21st service member of American Indian or native Alaskan descent to die in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon.
News of the war death hit hard on the reservation west of Tucson, said tribal member Daniel Preston - even though Reyna was registered with the tribe's San Lucy District near Gila Bend, and was not especially well-known on the main reservation.
At the nation's San Xavier District on the southwest edge of Tucson, the flag was lowered to half staff in Reyna's honor over the tribal cemetery where dozens of O'odham veterans are buried.
"Something like this has an impact on a lot of people," said Preston, 53, a former tribal government leader who confessed to mixed feelings of pride and sorrow.
"It made me feel sad that we had to lose a tribal member way over there on the other side of the ocean," Preston said.
Yet, "it's an honor that we still have some of our O'odham people in the service fighting for this country," he said.
Reyna grew up in the Kingman area and graduated in 2002 from the PASS Alternative High School in Kingman.
"He was a very good kid," recalled Sandy McCoy, director of the school.
Reyna married his teen sweetheart, Jennifer Fort, who also attended the school, McCoy said. Both were top students, she said.
The couple had two children ages 4 and 1, and had been living at Fort Riley, Kan., where Reyna was stationed, she said.
Reyna left for boot camp soon after graduation. "His goal was to graduate and go into the Army and that's what he did," McCoy said.
"He seemed proud to be in the military," she said.
"He was a very good kid, a very caring father. He was just very pleasant to be around," she said. "This is a shock for us."
Reyna went to Iraq in February. He was with the 70th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division.
Preston said the O'odham have a long and proud history of U.S. military service. There are "probably hundreds" of veterans among the tribe's nearly 26,000 members, he said.
Sadness in Arizona for a native son killed in Iraq.
My sympathy to the family for their loss. I bow my head in honor of a fallen hero, Pfc Seferino Reyna... a native of this great land.
PFC SEFERINO REYNA GOD REST YOUR SOUL, HERO |
At 20 PFC Reyna knew what it meant to be a real man and a true American. There are many (including the media and political "elite") who will never reach his stature.
May God bless his family for his devotion to duty, honor, and country.
BTTT!!!!!!
Reyna, you are a man of honor! Godspeed on your new journey.
BTTT
20 years old, 2 kids aged 4 and 1. Wow, I would say that young man had the cards stacked against him from the gitgo.....How sad
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