Fallen Soldier: Yadir G. Reynoso

Marine Corps Sergeant Yadir Renoso, 27, of Wapato, Wash. was assigned to Battalion Landing Team, 11th Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was killed Aug. 5, 2004, in a firefight with Iraqi insurgents in Najaf province, Iraq. His squad engaged a reinforced platoon-sized enemy unit at close range and was pinned down by heavy rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 fire. Sgt Reynoso was mortally wounded while providing suppressive fire to enable his squad to maneuver against the enemy.

Sgt. Reynoso was an eight-year veteran of the Marine Corps, which he joined shortly after graduating from high school in 1997.

A one-time high school wrestler whose body was lean and heavily tattooed, Yadir G. Reynoso was anything but dangerous. He would take money out of his pocket to pay the grocery bills of a stranger at the checkout counter.

"He was the kind of person who loved challenges," said his sister Patty. "My brother always knew the strength he needed to do anything. He knew he would serve honorably no matter what he did."