2 Hawaii soldiers
die while on duty

An Army serviceman is killed
in an Iraq bomb attack, while
a reservist dies training

Two soldiers with Hawaii ties died last week, one in an Iraq bombing, the other while training on the mainland, the Department of Defense announced yesterday.

Michael Fuhrmann: He returned to visit his dying grandmother and mother

Army Spc. Ray Michael Fuhrmann II, 28, originally from Volcano, was killed Thursday in Iraq by a roadside bomb, and Maj. Marino Gilmete David, 47, of Mililani, an Army Reserve officer, died Saturday during a training exercise in Louisiana.

Fuhrmann died with three other soldiers in Samarra, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their Humvee. The soldiers were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

Although Fuhrmann was a medic, he was riding in the Humvee with a driver, a gunner and an officer, "right out there in the front lines," his father, Michael Ray Fuhrmann, said.

The soldier was on his second tour to Iraq and was among the first contingent of soldiers to invade Iraq, his father said.

"He assumed he was going back," his father said. "He was proud of his unit. He was the kind of guy who didn't even question anything. He liked it there.

"He was a very good soldier," his father said. "He was their best, and that's one of the main things he wanted to do, and he did it."

Michael Fuhrmann said his son spoke little about what he did, not wanting to alarm his mother while she was alive. But when he did overhear his son, "it was pretty horrendous."

Fuhrmann was an explosives expert who could disarm improvised explosive devices, and was an expert marksman, his father said.

Born in Honolulu and raised in Volcano on the Big Island, Fuhrmann attended Mountain View School and Waiakea High School.

Fuhrmann, named after a grandfather, was the first in his family to join the military.

"He looked like an Army Ranger when he was 6," Michael Fuhrmann said. "Even when he was a little kid, he wore camouflage."

He enjoyed martial arts, and, six months shy of graduating, he left school to study aikido in Japan.

He later married a high school classmate, Tylea Decker, who works for Proctor & Gamble in Boston.

Though they grew up separately, Fuhrmann had a close relationship with his half brother, Tyler Gold.

"I was totally shocked," Gold said upon learning of his brother's death. "I expected that anything that happened to him was something that he could pull through.

"He'd been in plenty of rough situations on his first tour. I just expected it to carry through."

Gold said he and Fuhrmann were different, but his older brother influenced his life.

"When I spent time with him, I was very introverted," Gold said. "He kind of helped me get out of that."

Fuhrmann kindled in his younger brother an interest in martial arts and a respect for the military and "for people who choose to be physical rather than to just think," Gold said.

"He was a big guy, really friendly, really loving, thoughtful," Gold said. "He was a smart guy. He knew what he was doing."

Fuhrmann returned to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother before her death, and his sick mother -- once in 2002 and again shortly before her death in March 2004.

"She did not want her son in harm's way," said Eric Gold, her husband. "At the same time, she was very happy and proud of her son for the direction he took his life in."

He added, "He was a wonderful boy, and he turned into a good man. He was a wonderful brother."

Ray Fuhrmann is also survived by a half sister, Layla Rogers of California.

Also killed with Fuhrmann were Sgt. Nathan K. Bouchard, 24, of Wildomar, Calif.; Staff Sgt. Jeremy W. Doyle, 24, of Chesterton, Md.; and Pfc. Timothy J. Seamans, 20, of Jacksonville, Fla.

In Louisiana, David was discovered unresponsive Saturday at about 5 p.m. by members of his unit during a land navigation exercise, the Army said. Army spokeswoman Samantha Bingham said there was no accident involving equipment, and there were no signs of foul play. He was taken to Bayne Jones Army Community Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.

David was an ordnance operator with Headquarters Company, 9th Regional Readiness Command of Honolulu, the Army said yesterday.

David, who had more than 20 years with the Hawaii Reserve, was attached to the 321st Theater Material Management Center out of Baton Rouge, currently undergoing mobilization training in preparation for an upcoming deployment.

An autopsy was to be performed by the Armed Forces Medical Examiners office out of Rockville, Md.

Family members could not be reached for comment.

A memorial service to honor David was scheduled for today at the Main Post Chapel at Fort Polk. Funeral arrangements are pending.