Post by admin4laney on Aug 5, 2005 9:12:52 GMT -5
Fallen Marine Had Full Life To Live
Family Members Try To Deal With Pain
POSTED: 5:52 pm EDT August 4, 2005
UPDATED: 8:26 pm EDT August 4, 2005
OXFORD, Ohio -- To those who knew him best, 24-year-old Lance Cpl. Michael Cifuentes had the world in the palm of his hand. He was on the way to making all his dreams come true.
"He had a lot going on for him. He had a fiancée (and) a career path," said Janice Hughes, a friend.
News 5 learned that Cifuentes was one of five Tri-state Marines killed in the roadside bombing that claimed 14 Marines Wednesday.
Cifuentes had been a graduate student at Miami University and a substitute teacher at Talawanda High School. He had been a writer and photographer for the Marine Corps Web site, News 5's Juliette Vara reported.
His fiancee, Tara Reynolds, of Hamilton, was notified of his death Wednesday afternoon. Friends said one of the happiest moments of his life was when Reynolds agreed to be his wife.
"He was always looking for the right girl. When he met her, they clicked (and) he was really excited to talk about her," Hughes said.
Hughes went to college with Cifuentes at Miami University, where he got a degree in psychology and recently enrolled to get his master's degree in math education. They were both in the same music fraternity and quickly became friends.
The last e-mail she got from him while he was stationed in Iraq reflected his passion.
"I am excited because I was one of the 10 chosen from my entire company of 190 to do this. I will be extremely useful for the future of our military if this mission works out successfully."
According to friends, he was a young, energetic Marine who never got the chance to finish his mission.
"I bet he knew the danger. I just don't think it was a consideration for him. He did exactly what he wanted to do and he gave the country the best gift he could," Hughes said.
Fairfield fire Capt. Donald Bennett said Cifuentes' parents were trying to find the strength to deal with the death of their son. Cifuentes' father, Greg, is a Fairfield firefighter.
Cifuentes died along with four other local Marines, Lance Cpl. David Kreuter, Lance Cpl. Christopher Dyer, Lance Cpl. Brett Wightman and Lance Cpl. Timothy Michael Bell Jr.
The five were members of Lima Company, based in Columbus, and the Cleveland-based battalion involved in the single deadliest roadside bombing of U.S. troops in Iraq.
St. Xavier officials said Kreuter and Cifuentes, also a St. X graduate, were men of service to others and they incorporated the vision of the school into their lives in that way.
"(They were) so young, so promising, so full of life. This is real," said the Rev. William Deye, president of St. Xavier High School.
Fourteen Marines were killed in the bombing, most of them from a Columbus-based company that also suffered multiple casualties just months ago. The losses came two days after the same reservist battalion lost six other members in the fighting.
Nine of the reservists killed Wednesday were members of Lima Company, which lost four Marines in another attack in May, said Master Sgt. Stephen Walter, the company's public affairs officer.
All 14 were members of 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, based in Brook Park, the blue-collar Cleveland suburb of 21,000, according to Gunnery Sgt. Brad R. Lauer, public affairs chief. The battalion was activated in January and went to Iraq in March.
www.channelcincinnati.com/news/4811343/detail.html
Family Members Try To Deal With Pain
POSTED: 5:52 pm EDT August 4, 2005
UPDATED: 8:26 pm EDT August 4, 2005
OXFORD, Ohio -- To those who knew him best, 24-year-old Lance Cpl. Michael Cifuentes had the world in the palm of his hand. He was on the way to making all his dreams come true.
"He had a lot going on for him. He had a fiancée (and) a career path," said Janice Hughes, a friend.
News 5 learned that Cifuentes was one of five Tri-state Marines killed in the roadside bombing that claimed 14 Marines Wednesday.
Cifuentes had been a graduate student at Miami University and a substitute teacher at Talawanda High School. He had been a writer and photographer for the Marine Corps Web site, News 5's Juliette Vara reported.
His fiancee, Tara Reynolds, of Hamilton, was notified of his death Wednesday afternoon. Friends said one of the happiest moments of his life was when Reynolds agreed to be his wife.
"He was always looking for the right girl. When he met her, they clicked (and) he was really excited to talk about her," Hughes said.
Hughes went to college with Cifuentes at Miami University, where he got a degree in psychology and recently enrolled to get his master's degree in math education. They were both in the same music fraternity and quickly became friends.
The last e-mail she got from him while he was stationed in Iraq reflected his passion.
"I am excited because I was one of the 10 chosen from my entire company of 190 to do this. I will be extremely useful for the future of our military if this mission works out successfully."
According to friends, he was a young, energetic Marine who never got the chance to finish his mission.
"I bet he knew the danger. I just don't think it was a consideration for him. He did exactly what he wanted to do and he gave the country the best gift he could," Hughes said.
Fairfield fire Capt. Donald Bennett said Cifuentes' parents were trying to find the strength to deal with the death of their son. Cifuentes' father, Greg, is a Fairfield firefighter.
Cifuentes died along with four other local Marines, Lance Cpl. David Kreuter, Lance Cpl. Christopher Dyer, Lance Cpl. Brett Wightman and Lance Cpl. Timothy Michael Bell Jr.
The five were members of Lima Company, based in Columbus, and the Cleveland-based battalion involved in the single deadliest roadside bombing of U.S. troops in Iraq.
St. Xavier officials said Kreuter and Cifuentes, also a St. X graduate, were men of service to others and they incorporated the vision of the school into their lives in that way.
"(They were) so young, so promising, so full of life. This is real," said the Rev. William Deye, president of St. Xavier High School.
Fourteen Marines were killed in the bombing, most of them from a Columbus-based company that also suffered multiple casualties just months ago. The losses came two days after the same reservist battalion lost six other members in the fighting.
Nine of the reservists killed Wednesday were members of Lima Company, which lost four Marines in another attack in May, said Master Sgt. Stephen Walter, the company's public affairs officer.
All 14 were members of 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, based in Brook Park, the blue-collar Cleveland suburb of 21,000, according to Gunnery Sgt. Brad R. Lauer, public affairs chief. The battalion was activated in January and went to Iraq in March.
www.channelcincinnati.com/news/4811343/detail.html
