Soldier had turned his life around when killed
The latest Iraq war fatalities both served in the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry
Sgt. Jonathan Lootens was to go home on a three-week leave next month, which would have meant spending Thanksgiving with his family in New York.
But Lootens, 25, of Lyons, N.Y., was killed in Iraq on Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded near the Humvee where he served as a turret gunner.
This was his second combat tour in Iraq, his family told the Associated Press yesterday. He also had served in Afghanistan with the 25th Infantry Division, where he was assigned in September 2002.
Killed in the same incident was 1st Lt. Joshua Deese, 25, of Robeson, N.C. Both soldiers were assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team's 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment. They died in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, where the bulk of the nearly 7,500 soldiers from Wahiawa have been stationed since September.
Wounded in the same incident were two other soldiers from the 25th Division who may have been passengers in the Humvee. The Army does not release names of or details about wounded soldiers.
This brings to six the number of soldiers in Schofield's 25th Infantry Division who have been killed since the 3rd Brigade Combat Team arrived in Iraq last month.
Lootens' father, Robert Lootens, told the Associated Press that his son had been awarded a medal for saving another soldier's life. He said his son had enlisted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
He is also survived by his mother, Deborah Qualtieri, and sister Andrea Ralyea.
"You could easily say that Jon had a very troubled youth," Ralyea told the Associated Press. "He frequently walked on the wrong side of the law, and the point where he joined the military, it was either military or prison. Sept. 11 was the straw that broke the camel's back."
The Army changed Lootens and gave him a sense of purpose and identity, Ralyea said.
"Jonathan did a complete 180," she said. "It became obvious that this was the kind of regimen and discipline that he needed in his life, and he just ate it up ... he very quickly found direction and set goals for himself."
His mother said it was important to her son to fight with his men. "He wanted to defend his country and defend his family," she said.
Deese enlisted in the Army three years ago this month, and was assigned to Schofield Barracks in 2004.