Newlywed Kalihi soldier killed in Iraq

Metodio Bandonill's grieving family includes his wife and parents

CHARMAINE BANDONILL was in bed Tuesday morning when military officials arrived at her home in County Tipperary, Ireland, to tell her that her husband, Staff Sgt. Metodio A. Bandonill, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

"They said words but I couldn't hear anything," Bandonill's wife said yesterday in a phone interview from Ireland.

"We just got married. Just one click and he's gone. It's very hard for me," a tearful Charmaine said. "He's the best thing that ever happened to me."

Bandonill, 29, a highly decorated soldier from Kalihi, was killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee while on patrol in Baghdad.

He was a member of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) assigned to Troop B, 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, according to Army officials at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Bandonill joined the Army in May 1997 and arrived at Fort Campbell in October 2004. Before that, he spent two years training in Fort Knox, Ky. He also traveled to Korea, Louisiana and Colorado.

He and Charmaine married in a civil ceremony in their native Philippines on Jan. 14. He returned to Iraq the next day.

The couple had planned to have a wedding reception in Hawaii after he completed his tour of duty in September. Charmaine, a hotel supervisor in Ireland, also said they wanted to travel before settling down in Colorado and starting a family.

It will never happen now, Charmaine said who hasn't slept since she was informed of her husband's death.

The couple met through a Web site in 2003. A year later, in June 2004, they met face-to-face at Shannon Airport in Ireland. Charmaine said she was always distrustful of finding romance on the Internet, but that all changed. "The first time I met him, I knew he was the one," she said. A month later, Bandonill proposed.

Both visited each other often before tying the knot. They also e-mailed and called each other often. She described her husband as having a great sense of humor. "He makes me laugh all the time," she said.

The couple last spoke to each other on Sunday when he had three minutes left on his phone card to tell her that he loved and missed her. "He would tell me, 'you're my fuel, you keep me going.'" said Charmaine, who is expected to arrive in Hawaii tomorrow. Bandonill, the second of five children to Virginia and Virgilio Bandonill, was born and raised on a farm in Sison, Pangasinan. He helped his parents tend to vegetables and farm animals.

Bandonill attended Northern Luzon Adventist College Academy before his family decided to move to Hawaii to seek better opportunities. He and his mother joined his father in Hawaii in December 1995. Bandonill's four other siblings arrived later.

Virginia Bandonill said he joined the Army for a better future. He was on his second tour of duty to Iraq.

She said he spent a year in Iraq during his first tour and she did not want him to return. "It is very dangerous," she said.

Bandonill's mother said she was on her way to work Tuesday morning when military officials arrived at her home to inform her of her son's death. She said her mind has since been in a "blurred" state. "I can't believe my son has died," she said as she wiped away tears. "I'm shocked. I don't know what to do."

A framed photo of Bandonill dressed in full military uniform was placed on a small table at his parents' Kalihi home with a bowl of kim-chee saimin in front of it.

Bandonill's mother described him as smart and friendly and said she last spoke to her son on Friday when he asked her to send him some spicy Korean saimin, his favorite.

Bandonill received many awards during his military career, including the Army Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

"I'm very proud of him. I call him a hero," said his father. "I salute him."

Bandonill is also survived by his sister Maria and brothers, Dionisio, Joseph and Domingo. Funeral arrangements are pending. A memorial service for Bandonill is also to be held in Iraq.