East Chicago soldier killed by explosion in Iraq

Luis Perez, a 19-year-old U.S. Army private died Thursday; he is region’s ninth war victim

BY KEITH BENMAN

A 19-year-old U.S. Army private who grew up in East Chicago was killed in Iraq, the region’s latest casualty in the 16-month-old conflict.

Private Luis A. Perez was a transport driver who died Thursday when the fuel truck he was driving hit a land mine, according to his family.

His mother, Lisa Perez, was informed of his death when an Army officer and policeman called at her Hammond apartment, according to his aunt, Yaya Madrigal.

"He was such a tall, lanky, skinny kid," Madrigal said. "If you saw him in his uniform you would think he was playing dress up."

Perez’s father, Jose Perez, is a career military man serving in the U.S. Army and is stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y.

On Saturday, everyone gathered at the Madrigal home in East Chicago’s Marktown neighborhood to grieve together. Luis Perez grew up there and was raised by his grandmother, Clara Madrigal, for many years because of his father’s frequent moves.

"When he was small he said ’I want to be a green man,’" Clara Madrigal said of Perez.

"I said to him, ’What’s a green man?’ And he said, ’A soldier, like my father.’ "

Luis Perez attended McKinley Elementary School in East Chicago and later Morton High School in Hammond, Yaya Madrigal said. He graduated from a high school in New York.

He enjoyed playing video games and basketball, Madrigal said. He also liked to write poetry and had even written one about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"It’s really horrible, because right now we feel like we can’t do anything," Madrigal said. "It’s like a bad dream."

In addition to his father and mother, Perez is survived by two sisters, she said. In the Madrigal household, Perez grew up with Yaya and her five brothers.

The whole family was extremely concerned when Luis shipped out for the Middle East less than two months ago, Madrigal said.

"So he made promises to my mom he would return back," she added.

On Aug. 25, Perez sent an e-mail from Kuwait that he was shipping out for Iraq. He had turned 19 just five days before.

The family was told it will be five to 10 days before the body is returned to the United States. Perez becomes the ninth soldier from the region to die in the war in Iraq.

"I still can’t believe he died in that way," his grandmother said. "Because he was just a little boy, not a soldier."

As of Friday, 968 U.S. service members had died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq in March 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Of those, 724 died as a result of hostile action.

Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 830 U.S. soldiers have died — 615 as a result of hostile action.

Perez’s family did not know where in Iraq he died.

The U.S. military reported a soldier was killed Thursday in a vehicle accident near the volatile city of Fallujah, but did not identify him. A second soldier was seriously injured and evacuated to a U.S. medical facility in Germany, the statement said.

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2004/08/29/news/top_news/728f44b1e4aeb9d086256eff001373ca.txt