Corporal Miguel Angel Baez, III, 32, of Bonaire, Georgia, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He and two other service members were killed on 02/05/2008February 5, 2008, by an improvised explosive device during combat operations in Muqdadiyah, Iraq.

CPL Baez was a paratrooper and assistant machine gunner on his first deployment after joining the Army in May 2005. He completed Infantry One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning in August 2005 and the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, two months later. CPL Baez always wanted to be a soldier, following in the footsteps of several family members. His wife recalls, “Life was so full of excitement and adventures when we were together.”

A fellow paratrooper of CPL Baez said, “There are people that you meet in your life that forever change your life, Miguel was one of them.” CPL Baez was known for lighting up a room and his contagious laughter.

CPL Baez was survived by his wife and four children.