Sgt. Aaron Cepeda

(reprinted from WilsonCountyNews.com, May 17,  2005)

Local Marine falls in Iraq

Amy Seiford 18.MAY.05
SAN ANTONIO — A son who constantly helped others. A father who loved his children with all his heart. And a husband who had a way with words. These are the memories that will stay with U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Aaron Cepeda’s family after the soldier was killed on May 7 by a suicide bomber in Iraq.

“He was the best son a mom could ask for,” said his mother, Diana Cepeda. “Though he died at a very young age, he accomplished a lot.”

Cepeda, 22, was killed by an explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Hadithah, in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. A fellow Marine, Lance Cpl. Lance Tanner Graham, was also killed during the attack.

Both were members of Headquarters and Service Company, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, based in San Antonio.

His father, Michael Cepeda, said the military is a family tradition dating back to Cepeda’s grandfather, who fought in World War II.

Cepeda enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in November 1999 in San Antonio and graduated as a private first class on April 7, 2000, after completing basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Ca.

“He was in such good shape that he carried some of the other Marines that couldn’t make it through basic training,” his father said.

After basic training and infantry school, he was deployed to Iraq in March as a member of the 4th Reconnaissance Battalion detachment that was attached to Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, out of Brookpark, Ohio, where Cepeda served as a rifleman.

He believed in the work that was being done in Iraq. In his last call home on May 4, Cepeda told his parents and his wife, Ella, that he was considering enrolling in officers training school after he finished his military contract in November. This came as a shock to all three, but Cepeda told his family it was something he felt was necessary and he was willing to take the chance of returning to Iraq.

“He saw how people were living over there and felt he needed to fight for the democracy of Iraq,” his father said. “He believed in it.”

Driven to succeed
Another important part of Cepeda’s life was his goal to become a doctor.

According to his parents, he saw the value of making education an important part of his life, and believed that anyone who wanted to get an education could do so.

After graduating from Health Careers High School at the age of 17, Cepeda went on to obtain two associate’s degrees, before receiving a pre-med degree from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

While most college students focus on extracurricular activities, Cepeda set a goal to finish his degree in three years, which he accomplished by taking up to 23 semester hours at a time.

By the time he was deployed to Iraq, he had already finished more than half of the requirements for a master’s degree in public administration.

“He was focused,” said his mother. “He didn’t want to waste any time.”

While at Texas A&M, he also worked for the Veterans Administration.

“He touched a lot of veterans’ lives,” his father said. “He was special to a lot of people.”

Cepeda’s death has hit home on the university campus, too. The young Marine was one of the first soldiers with a tie to the school to be killed in the war.

“He was a remarkable young man,” said Lynn Perry, who worked with Cepeda in the Veterans Affairs office. “His character is what I’ll remember the most. He was such a fine man.

“He was so full of promise, and we’re just all so thankful we had the chance to know him,” she said.

The university remembered Cepeda during its spring commencement ceremonies on May 14. Members of the university’s Reserve Officers Training Corps did the “Fallen Soldier Tribute” and the audience observed a moment of silence.

“Aaron was very well-respected and liked on campus,” said Melissa Goonan, who works for the university’s public affairs department. “The university wanted to do something special in his honor and his memory.”

A good man
For Cepeda’s wife, the hardest thing will be missing the everyday things that her husband did for her.

“He was the sweetest person and always very caring,” Ella said. “He had a way with words.”

The cards and letters that Ella has received during their five-year marriage, including a birthday card she received after his death, are things she will always cherish. His last card included a poem that expressed his love for his wife.

Ella said this is something she will miss, as well as Aaron’s constant love and concern for their two children, Aaron “A.J.” Cepeda Jr. and Journee.

Already the family has had to celebrate the first of many birthdays without Cepeda. A.J. turned 5 on May 12 and the family worked hard to make it a day of celebration, despite their pain.

“I couldn’t deny my son his birthday because I was hurting,” she said. “Aaron wouldn’t have wanted that. The kids were number one and always came first.”

Ella said that was apparent through Aaron’s phone calls home. He never wanted to talk about what was going on in Iraq, but instead wanted to hear about his two children and to plan for the future.

“His next mission was to build me a home that we could call our own,” Ella said. “I had my career and Aaron had the military, and we had our boy and girl. We were lucky.”

Cepeda was buried on Tuesday in St. Anthony’s Cemetery in Elmendorf with full military honors.