Memorial honors Fort Lewis hero

FORT LEWIS, Wash. – A 19-year-old infantryman killed in an attack in Mosul died saving many of his fellow soldiers, friends and comrades said during a memorial service at this Army post south of Tacoma.

Pfc. Oscar Sanchez died last month defending his outpost from an oncoming truck loaded with explosives. He fired at the driver, forcing the man to detonate the explosives before he could reach the post.

Sanchez was hit and killed by shrapnel from the explosion. It was just two days before his first wedding anniversary.

“Pfc. Sanchez gave his life in the process of saving other soldiers’ lives,” chaplain Col. Henri Fischer said at a ceremony Friday at the post’s Evergreen Chapel. “That is the mark of a true hero.”

Twenty-three U.S. soldiers were wounded in the bombing – the number would have been far worse had the driver made it into the building, officials said.

Sanchez grew up in Modesto, Calif. His mother was killed when he was 11, after which he helped his father care for an older brother with Down syndrome, and a younger brother and a younger sister.

In October 2003, Sanchez entered active duty, and two months later married his childhood sweetheart, Tiffany.

During Friday’s service, an officer read comments from Sanchez’ commander, Lt. Col. Erik Kurilla, given last week at a memorial service in Mosul.

“At only 19-years old, with a young bride waiting at home for his return, Oscar Sanchez had everything to live for,” Kurilla told soldiers. “With everything to live for, Pfc. Sanchez laid down his life for his friends so that they may live.”