[cody evans]

An Army sergeant killed by a gunshot wound in Iraq became the second U.S. servicewoman to die in the war.

QUOTE

Sgt. Melissa Valles, 26, of Eagle Pass, Tex., died Wednesday from noncombat injuries, according to the Defense Department. The accident in Balad, 55 miles north of Baghdad, is under investigation and details were not released.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2003Jul11.html
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/new...raq/6284198.htm

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http://www.gazette.com/war/0712war.html

Army life became way of life to soldier

Carson sergeant’s death investigated

By JOHN DIEDRICH THE GAZETTE


Sgt. Melissa Valles was a soldier all the time, whether in uniform or not.

She wove military jargon into her conversations with family and once helped her sister move out of her apartment as if it was a military mission.

When she reported to superiors at work, the 26-year-old always stood at parade rest — shoulders back, hands clasped behind her back, feet spread slightly apart — technically required but rarely performed.

"When she came in, she was squaredaway. Total soldier. She always showed proper respect and always was pushing the troops," said Sgt. 1 st Class Cathy Mihm, who worked down the hall from Valles at Fort Carson.

Valles, a supply sergeant in Headquarters Detachment, 64 th Forward Support Battalion, 3 rd Brigade Combat Team, died of a noncombat gunshot wound in her abdomen Wednesday in Balad, Iraq. The Army is investigating the death, and officials gave no other details.

She is the 12 th soldier and first woman from Fort Carson to die in Iraq. About 12,000 soldiers from the post are deployed in the region.

Valles grew up in a traditional Hispanic home in Eagle Pass, Texas, then a city of 20,000 on the Mexico border south of San Antonio.

She had two older brothers, but the 5-foot-3-inch Valles assumed the role of head of the household even as a girl, younger sister Maribel Valles said.

"She was petite, but she was a really tough lady," Maribel Valles said. "She really put people in their place. She did that since she was a girl. She would put little boys who were bullies in their place."

Valles played point guard on her elementary, junior high and senior high school basketball teams and later on recreational Army teams.

She enlisted in 1996, looking for a challenge, something new.

Valles enjoyed the lifestyle and excelled, quickly rising to a noncommissioned officer.

"She really liked doing what she did. She was very motivated," her sister said. "She was always trying to do her best all the time."

Valles looked out for soldiers under her charge, said Spc. Melinda Taylor, who worked for Valles for six months before the unit deployed.

At the end of each day, Valles asked her soldiers what she could do for them, what they needed fixed. Taylor recalled Valles encouraging her to go for soldier of the month, giving her books to study.

Valles was quick to correct Taylor, reminding her to stand at parade rest or speak in more measured, disciplined tones.

"She made me a better soldier," Taylor said.

Valles looked out for her little sister and their mother, Marianita. Valles spent her vacation helping her sister move from an apartment to a college dorm. They did it quickly and efficiently, the Army way.

"She was always there to fix things for me," Maribel Valles said.

Valles, who was single, told her sister she planned to spend 20 years in the Army and retire. She was eager to serve in Iraq, her sister said.

"She wanted to be the first one sent over there."

A memorial for Valles is scheduled for Wednesday at Fort Carson.


CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0110 or diedrich@gazette.com

[cody evans]

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/amer...2104264,00.html

Carson servicewoman dies of injuries in Iraq
By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
July 12, 2003

Melissa Valles was the only one of four children born to Marianita and Fernando Valles Sr., in depressed Eagle Pass, Texas, who received a post-high school education.

She was born into a family of migrant farmworkers and made it to the Army. On Wednesday evening, the 26-year-old Fort Carson soldier became the second U.S. servicewoman to die in Iraq.

Valles suffered two wounds [note: that is probably a misprint, other stories say one wound] in the abdomen, a family friend said. The Defense Department said Valles died from noncombat injuries in Balad.

She had been in Iraq for three months.

Valles, a supply officer, had been promoted two weeks ago to staff sergeant.

"She always said it was an opportunity for her to travel and continue her education that really couldn't be afforded by her family," said Enriqueta Diaz, a family friend.

"She was going to going to make her career the military," said Diaz, who is helping the family arrange funeral services. "As a matter of fact she just re-enlisted for two more years."

Valles was with the headquarters detachment of 64th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. She is the 12th soldier from Fort Carson to die in Iraq.

[cody evans]

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,3...1508199,00.html

Female soldier's Iraq death unites hometown in grief
By Eileen Kelley, Special to The Denver Post
More than 1,000 flags have been ordered for what is expected to be a large funeral procession of family members and friends for the nation's second female servicewoman to die in Iraq.

The body of Sgt. Melissa Valles isn't expected to be returned to her Mexico-border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, until later this week. Still, this city of some 42,000 is already planning the funeral arrangements for its first fallen soldier on Friday. Valles was 26.

"I will pray for the family," said 69-year-old Oscar Valdez of Eagle Pass.

Valdez said he remembers a much younger Valles when she excelled in school and athletics at Eagle Pass High School. She graduated in 1995 with honors and joined the Army a year later at the age of 19.

Valles recently re-enlisted for another two years, said Enriqueta Diaz, who is leading the family support group for family members of some 250 Eagle Pass soldiers who have deployed to the Persian Gulf.

Many flags in this patriotic town were lowered to half-staff out of respect for the woman, said Diaz.

"It has been a long period of prayer," said Diaz of the residents' support for U.S. service men and women in Iraq. "The whole community is mourning. ... One of the beautiful things is there is a lot of community support. What else can we do but offer our support to her (Valles') mother and let her know how very proud we are of her daughter."

Valles died at 6 p.m. Wednesday after a gunshot wound to the stomach. Officials with the Department of Defense and the Army have released little information on her death. Diaz said Valles' mother, Marianita Valles, learned of the death of her daughter at 5 a.m. Thursday.

"Yesterday she was in shock. She couldn't do anything. She just couldn't accept it," Diaz said.

Diaz returned to the Valles home again on Friday and saw the mother break down when a military officer showed up to offer any support to the family that he could.

"She immediately started crying, which I think is healthy because she had been holding back," Diaz said.

Officials at the Army said Friday that the soldier's death is under investigation. Marianita Valles was only told that her daughter took a fatal gunshot wound to the stomach, Diaz said.

Valles was not married and did not have any children. In addition to her mother, she is survived by her father, Fernando Valles Sr., brothers Fernando Valles Jr. and Jesus Alberto Valles, and a sister, Maribel Valles.

Fort Carson is planning a memorial service for this week.

Valles is the 12th soldier who deployed from Fort Carson to die during the war and the second soldier with ties to Colorado to die last week. Staff Sgt. Barry Sanford of Aurora died on Monday, of a noncombat gunshot wound. He was serving with the 101st Support Group out of Fort Campbell, Ky. A total of 19 service men and women with ties to Colorado have died since the war began on March 19.

Valles is the second female to die while in Iraq.

Pfc. Lori Piestewa, a Fort Bliss, Texas, soldier, was driving a Humvee with friend and fellow soldier Pfc. Jessica Lynch when it crashed into another vehicle. Both women are believed to have been briefly captured before showing up at an Iraqi hospital where Piestewa died.

[cody evans]

http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/ar...2115605,00.html

There is a picture in the article.

Role model, friend, soldier laid to rest
Second U.S. female fighter to die in Iraq remembered fondly

By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News
July 17, 2003

FORT CARSON - Sgt. Melissa "Melly" Valles was remembered as a role model and friend Wednesday by fellow soldiers and family members.

"A soldier's life epitomizes sacrifice," said Sgt. 1st Class Lewis Polk.

"But only a few like Sergeant Valles stepped up and made a difference."

Nearly 100 people, most of them in green Army fatigues, attended Valles' memorial service Wednesday at the post's Soldier's Memorial Chapel.

Valles, 26, of Eagle Pass, Texas, died July 9 in Balad, Iraq, from what the Defense Department called noncombat injuries.

The circumstances surrounding her death are still being investigated but she had a gunshot wound in the abdomen.

She will be buried in her hometown this week.

Valles, a member of the headquarters detachment of the 64th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, Company B, was the second female U.S. soldier to die in the war in Iraq, and Fort Carson's 12th fatality.

Fellow soldiers remembered her as the consummate professional, who pushed herself and her squad to meet high standards.

"She always worked to better herself and went to extra schooling and did everything to keep her technically and tactically better," said Lt. Col. John Powledge.

"Her soldiers speak of her as tough and strict and she wouldn't let anyone get away with anything less than their best."

But Valles was also a compassionate leader and friend.

Spc. Melinda Taylor, 24, of Sacramento, Calif., remembered Valles comforting her after Taylor lost her grandfather last September.

"She was telling me to pray and pray," Taylor said.

"She would always tell me to stay strong."

Taylor, who was not deployed in Iraq, called Valles a great squad leader, and a role model for other female soldiers.

"She was real prepared and she set a great example," she said.

"She was so motivated, and always strong for the battalion."

Sgt. Jessica Nunez, 24, who accompanied Valles' body back from Iraq to Dover, Del., called her "my co-worker, my battle buddy and my friend."

"She was the strongest person I've ever met," Nunez said.

"She did everything by the book. She was, is, a role model."

Nunez said just knowing Valles made her a better soldier.

"There are no words that can make the pain of losing her any better," she said.

"Sergeant Valles, I love you. I miss you, and may you rest in peace with God."

Valles' 27-year-old brother, Jesus Alberto Valles, remembered her as a sports fan who loved playing volleyball and basketball.

He had talked to her July 8, just days before she died.

"She was so happy," he said. "There was a rumor that they were coming home in October."

Another relative, whom Melissa Valles called "aunt," said her family was proud of her and what she was trying to do in Iraq.

"She said she was not afraid to go, she was not afraid to die," said Maria Ramirez, 47, of Brighton.

"She wanted to do what she had to do for her country."

[cody evans]

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,3...1516532,00.html

Slain sergeant recalled as role model for women

FORT CARSON - For many military women, Sgt. Melissa Valles was the epitome of strength.

At age 26, this stellar athlete and honor student who was raised in a poor family near the Mexican border in Eagle Pass, Texas, taught other military woman the importance of never letting your emotions show.

To be a woman in a predominately male field, the U.S. Army, meant being professional rather than playful and to fight very hard to prove yourself.

On Wednesday, 20-year-old Melinda Taylor, a specialist who worked for Valles at Fort Carson, did her best to uphold her mentor's example as she held her head high and spoke of her role model, friend and fellow soldier.

"She was so motivated and always strong," Taylor said after a memorial service for Valles who died July 9 in Iraq. "... She said that it was very important that women are not weak and that you do what guys can do."

More than 200 members of the military joined family members and friends at Fort Carson on Wednesday to honor Valles, who was the 12th Fort Carson soldier and only the second U.S. servicewoman to die while in Iraq.

"Your daughter served this country and served this country well. She is a true American hero," Army Chaplain John Powledge told the family during the service.

The Army has released few details of Valles' death, other than to say she suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen in a noncombat incident in Balad, north of Baghdad, where she was stationed with the 64th Forward Support Battalion. Family members said they are awaiting a final report from investigators.

Valles' older brother, Jesus Alberto Valles, said his sister called home the day before her death and spoke to her mother.

"She was real happy," he said of his sister. Melissa Valles said there was a chance that she and others would be home by October, but that the word around the camp in Iraq may have just been a rumor, her brother said.

"She was real proud of serving our country and she was really excited to that she was going over there to fight for our country."

He said the family was equally proud of his sister, but that her death was very difficult.

"It is very hard. It is very hard for me and my family. There are no words for it," he said.

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Family, town keep vigil for GI

QUOTE

"She told us it was very poor there (in Iraq). That there were people begging for food, and that the weather was hot," said her brother, Jesus Valles, 27. "She was excited to be there. It was something different for her to see."

http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla...180&xlc=1027673

Family, town keep vigil for GI

By Mariano Castillo
San Antonio Express-News

Web Posted : 07/19/2003 12:00 AM

EAGLE PASS — On an especially hot Friday afternoon, Frank Sanchez sweated as he sprayed Armor-All and wiped the cavernous inside of the gray hearse that would carry a fallen soldier.
He was preparing for funeral services to be held this morning at Sacred Heart Church for Army Sgt. Melissa Valles, who died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen in a noncombat incident on July 9. She was 26.

"They're a pretty well-known family," Sanchez said as he put extra effort into the task at hand. "They've been (in Eagle Pass) for a while."

Valles' death made national headlines when she became the second U.S. servicewoman killed in Iraq.

In Eagle Pass the loss was immediately and profoundly felt.

"It affects just about anybody, no matter where you live," said Sanchez, who is an Eagle Pass native. "When the person is from a small town, you think nothing like this will happen. But it can happen."

A 1995 graduate of Eagle Pass High School, Valles was with the headquarters detachment of the 64th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat team, based in Fort Carson, Colo. She is survived by her mother, Marianita, stepfather, Carlos Gomez, sister, Maribel and brothers Fernando and Jesus.

Relatives, friends and Army representatives kept vigil Friday at an all-day viewing.

"She told us it was very poor there (in Iraq). That there were people begging for food, and that the weather was hot," said her brother, Jesus Valles, 27. "She was excited to be there. It was something different for her to see."

Valles died in the town of Balan, north of Baghdad. Hers was the 69th U.S. death reported in Iraq since major combat ended in late May.

U.S. combat casualties in Iraq surpassed the total of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, reaching 148, when an American soldier died Friday as his convoy was hit by a remote-controlled bomb near the town of Fallujah.

The circumstances surrounding the fatal gunshot wound to Valles' midsection still are a mystery to family members.

"I want to know what happened," Jesus Valles said. "It makes it harder, not knowing."

Maj. Gen. Alfred A. "Freddy" Valenzuela said it is likely Valles' death was accidental and in the line of duty, but that nothing would be certain until the investigation is complete. Valenzuela did not rule out the possibility that the injury was self-inflicted or the result of friendly fire.

On Friday, he spent the day at Memorial Funeral Chapel with the soldier's family.

"From one family to another," he told relatives, "I'm bringing your daughter back and thanking you on behalf of a grateful nation."

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Eagle Pass soldier 'did a great act'

QUOTE

"She gave her life so that we can live," said Guerra, who conducted the service in Spanish. "Thank you, Melissa, for being that daughter, that sister, friend, soldier and Christian."

http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla...180&xlc=1027984

Eagle Pass soldier 'did a great act'

By Mariano Castillo
San Antonio Express-News


EAGLE PASS — No fewer than 36 photographs of soldiers from this border town adorn a table at the entrance of the Sacred Heart Church.
Marianita Valles, mother of Army Sgt. Melissa Valles, and Maribel Valles, the sergeant's sister, weep during the soldier's burial in Eagle Pass.
It was a photo that was not on the table, however, that brought together more than 100 mourners here Saturday.

Instead, the portrait of Army Sgt. Melissa Valles was in front of the altar, next to her flag-draped casket.

The 26-year-old was remembered as the type of person who never refused a favor when asked, and a commanding officer praised Valles for her decision to choose the armed forces as a career.

Valles, who was with the headquarters detachment of the 64th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat team, had re-enlisted in the Army three times.

She died on July 9 from a gunshot to her abdomen in a noncombat situation in Iraq. Details concerning the circumstances of her death are unknown and are being investigated. She was the second woman to die while serving in Iraq.

There are unanswered questions regarding Valles' death, but Father Richard Guerra reminded mourners that she was in a hostile environment and that by being in Iraq, "she did a great act for all of us."

"She gave her life so that we can live," said Guerra, who conducted the service in Spanish. "Thank you, Melissa, for being that daughter, that sister, friend, soldier and Christian."

Mourners crowded the entrance of the church at the conclusion of the service to watch the precision of the Army honor guard that carried the silver casket to the hearse that would take it to the Maverick County Cemetery.

The long line of cars to the cemetery wound through the town of 23,000 and grabbed the attention of motorists and residents, many of whom leaned on fences and looked on sadly as they drove by.

Only the sorrowful weeping of Valles' mother, Marianita, broke the stillness of the crowd at the cemetery.

"¿Por que? Mi hija, no!" she cried. "Why? My daughter, no!"

Maj. Gen. Alfred A. Valenzuela, commander, U.S. Army South, took the mother's hand and thanked her on behalf of the nation for her daughter's sacrifice.

The death of the first Hispanic servicewoman in the war in Iraq drew visitors from across the state.

[cody evans]

Role model, friend, soldier laid to rest

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/stat...2115605,00.html
By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News
July 17, 2003

FORT CARSON - Sgt. Melissa "Melly" Valles was remembered as a role model and friend Wednesday by fellow soldiers and family members.

"A soldier's life epitomizes sacrifice," said Sgt. 1st Class Lewis Polk.

"But only a few like Sergeant Valles stepped up and made a difference."

Nearly 100 people, most of them in green Army fatigues, attended Valles' memorial service Wednesday at the post's Soldier's Memorial Chapel.

Valles, 26, of Eagle Pass, Texas, died July 9 in Balad, Iraq, from what the Defense Department called noncombat injuries.

The circumstances surrounding her death are still being investigated but she had a gunshot wound in the abdomen.

She will be buried in her hometown this week.

Valles, a member of the headquarters detachment of the 64th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, Company B, was the second female U.S. soldier to die in the war in Iraq, and Fort Carson's 12th fatality.

Fellow soldiers remembered her as the consummate professional, who pushed herself and her squad to meet high standards.

"She always worked to better herself and went to extra schooling and did everything to keep her technically and tactically better," said Lt. Col. John Powledge.

"Her soldiers speak of her as tough and strict and she wouldn't let anyone get away with anything less than their best."

But Valles was also a compassionate leader and friend.

Spc. Melinda Taylor, 24, of Sacramento, Calif., remembered Valles comforting her after Taylor lost her grandfather last September.

"She was telling me to pray and pray," Taylor said.

"She would always tell me to stay strong."

Taylor, who was not deployed in Iraq, called Valles a great squad leader, and a role model for other female soldiers.

"She was real prepared and she set a great example," she said.

"She was so motivated, and always strong for the battalion."

Sgt. Jessica Nunez, 24, who accompanied Valles' body back from Iraq to Dover, Del., called her "my co-worker, my battle buddy and my friend."

"She was the strongest person I've ever met," Nunez said.

"She did everything by the book. She was, is, a role model."

Nunez said just knowing Valles made her a better soldier.

"There are no words that can make the pain of losing her any better," she said.

"Sergeant Valles, I love you. I miss you, and may you rest in peace with God."

Valles' 27-year-old brother, Jesus Alberto Valles, remembered her as a sports fan who loved playing volleyball and basketball.

He had talked to her July 8, just days before she died.

"She was so happy," he said. "There was a rumor that they were coming home in October."

Another relative, whom Melissa Valles called "aunt," said her family was proud of her and what she was trying to do in Iraq.

"She said she was not afraid to go, she was not afraid to die," said Maria Ramirez, 47, of Brighton.

"She wanted to do what she had to do for her country."

[cody evans]

Tribute website.

http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/profil...lesmelissa.html