Free Republic

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio - To this tidy suburb came news reports from halfway around the world that revealed that one of the four contractors brutally murdered and mutilated by anti-American militants in Fallujah, Iraq, was Danica and Jozo's son, Joe's neighbor, and John and Frank's former student. And yet, for all the personal horror over one of their own dying so unspeakably, Jerry Zovko's family and friends want what he started finished. "He would just hug me and say, 'Mom, I am needed. I have to go there. I can make a difference,'" Danica Zovko said yesterday, recalling her efforts to...

Area man killed in Iraq By: Jenny May and John Arthur Hutchison Staff Writers 04/02/2004 Jerry Zovko, right, is pictured with his mother, Danica (Donna) Zovko. Jerry was one of four American civilians killed Wednesday in Iraq. /Family photo Eastlake family mourns loss of one of their own It was his determination to do what he felt was right, despite what others thought, that made former Euclid and Timberlake resident Jerry Zovko stand out, his younger brother said. Zovko, a 32-year-old Euclid High School graduate, was one of four civilians killed Wednesday in the town of Fallujah in Iraq....

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — An Army veteran from Ohio was among four American contractors killed in Iraq, their bodies mutilated and dragged through the streets. Family members said yesterday that Jerko "Jerry" Zovko, 32, died with three other civilians Wednesday after they were hit by rocket-propelled grenades in a rebel ambush. The victims worked for Blackwater Security Consulting, one of five subsidiaries of Blackwater USA based in North Carolina. Zovko’s mother said she and her husband had suspected their son might be among the dead. Their fears were confirmed yesterday when the president of Blackwater USA knocked on their door. "It...

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio - Three of the four civilians killed and barbarically mutilated in Iraq were identified yesterday as Army veterans and a former Navy Seal. Family members and a spokesperson said Thursday that Jerko (Jerry) Zovko, 32, Michael Teague, 38, and Scott Helvenston, 38, died with another civilian Wednesday after they were hit by rocket-propelled grenades in a rebel ambush. The victims worked for Blackwater Security Consulting, a subsidiary of Blackwater USA based in North Carolina. Zovko's mother said she and her husband had suspected the worst, and their fears were confirmed yesterday when the president of Blackwater USA knocked...