FORT CARSON, Colo.-
Colorado reached a grim milestone Tuesday when the military announced that three more soldiers from Fort Carson were killed in Baghdad, bringing to 200 the number of troops from the post who have died in Iraq.
Staff Sgt. Jay E. Martin, Sgt. Alexander J. Funcheon and Pfc. Brian A. Botello were killed Sunday by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad, the military said. An interpreter was also killed.
They were assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Carson, near Colorado Springs.
Botello, 19, of Alta, Iowa, joined the Army after he graduated high school in 2005. He was deployed to Iraq last November.
His father, Tony Botello of Muskegon, Mich., is an ex-Marine who said his son “wanted to serve.”
“He has my genes. I’m proud of him 1 million percent,” the father told The Muskegon Chronicle.
Brian Botello’s aunt said she was watching television coverage of a homecoming ceremony for a Marine Reserve unit when she got the call that her nephew had died.
“It was hard to see all those happy families,” said Gaynell Martinez, of Grand Haven, Mich. “There will be no happy homecoming for Brian.”
Funcheon, 21, of Bel Aire, Kan., enlisted in 2004.
Before he was deployed to Iraq, he visited one of his former teachers, Linn Bertog, whose fifth-grade students had “adopted” him before the school year.
Funcheon was a hero to her students, Bertog said, and e-mailing him was a prized perk given to those who helped out or performed well in class. The students had sent him care packages and were planning to send another this month.
“My heart just bleeds for the family,” Bertog said.
In his last e-mail to his parents, he wrote “I’ll be home before you know it,” said his mother, Karen Funcheon.
Alex Funcheon planned to go to college and become a firefighter after his military obligations ended.
“He was starting to figure out what he wanted to do,” said his father, Bob Funcheon. “And that’s the sad part of this, is the life that (he) will never live out.”
Martin, 29, of Baltimore enlisted in the Army in November 1997, according to the public affairs office at Fort Carson. His deployment to Iraq, his first, began last October.
Martin’s father, Dwight Martin, told WBAL-TV that his son decided at age 7 that he wanted to join the military. He enlisted in the Army in November 1997, and Martin said his son was the consummate soldier.
“Didn’t drink, didn’t smoke. A responsible, polite, well-mannered kid,” Dwight Martin said.
Martin also served in Bosnia and as a recruiter in Los Angeles. He received several awards, including the Army Commendation Medal and the Army Good Conduct Medal.
In his last phone call from Iraq, he left a message saying he was OK but there were a lot of explosions, Dwight Martin said.
