ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS
James Sarno Jr., front, cried into the flag from his brother's coffin during a memorial service yesterday at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in North Las Vegas as his cousin Brian Sarno, top, comforted him. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Cameron Bryan Sarno was killed last week in an accident in Kuwait. His funeral will be held in Hawaii.
Iraq war vets
eulogize comrade
from OahuAbout 200 people attend
a tearful service in Las Vegas
for the traffic accident victim
LAS VEGAS -- Staff Sgt. Cameron Bryan Sarno didn't die taking a ridge.
The 43-year-old Army Reserve soldier, a Wahiawa native, didn't die in a tank battle or dogfight.
He died fixing a flat tire on his large transport truck in Kuwait City last week, a reminder that everyone remains in harm's way in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"It's not as glamorous but it's just as important," Col. Jon Miller, Sarno's commanding officer, said yesterday morning after a memorial service at the Armed Forces Reserve Center on Nellis Air Force Base.
"Either way, you do your duty. It's all part of the bigger effort."
Miller was one of about 200 people who attended the hour-long tribute, which was thick with tears and anecdotes about the native of Oahu who served his country and surfed big waves on the North Shore without fear.
Sarno, a member of the 257th Transportation Company, was the first soldier from Las Vegas to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was the fourth Nevadan killed since the war in Iraq began March 20. Sarno moved to Las Vegas in 1998, looking for a better job and a lower cost of living.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS
An honor guard removed the flag from the coffin of Staff Sgt. Cameron Bryan Sarno during the memorial service.
The military said Sarno died last Monday when another heavy truck slammed into him. The 257th -- nicknamed "Rollin' Thunder" -- is comprised of soldiers who transport tanks and other heavy vehicles.
Sarno and 300 other soldiers from the Las Vegas unit were called up in February. Sarno, known as "Boodee," had told family members in Hawaii he hoped to return and open a martial arts academy, they said last week.
His cousin said Sarno's ashes will be scattered at sea, the one place the reservist loved. Brian Sarno, 30, said he and others intend to paddle out into the water on their surfboards and scatter the ashes.
Sarno said he wasn't angry about his cousin's death, and he still supported Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"Being angry is not going to help anybody," he said.
The deaths associated with the Iraqi conflict weren't lost on the civilians and soldiers standing in the room in front of Cameron Sarno's coffin, which was draped with an American flag.
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., who spoke at the service, said he knew his decision earlier this year to send troops to Iraq would put soldiers at risk. He's already attended three funerals this year, including Sarno's.
Ensign said it's not easy to shake off the deaths.
"You always have regrets when you come to these things," Ensign said. "It's real pain, real death."
