HE WAS ONE OF THE BEST
My childhood friend, SSG Sam T. Solomon died in Iraq December 4, 2008.
Sam joined the U.S. Armed Forces in 2000, a year after graduating from Marshall Islands High School in Majuro. He later married and became a father of three children and had deployed to Iraq the last month on his second tour to the country from Hawaii. His wife and children live on Oahu. Sam’s father is the Rev. Harry Sam from Ujae, Ailinglaplap, Kwajelein, and his mother is Teaoi Sam from Kiribati.
We grew up together in the Marshall Islands and attended the same high school. We joined the Army afterward and served in different units. The first picture is of myself in Tikrit, Iraq from 2006 to 2008. The second photo is of Sam. I’m sorry I don’t have any clearer picture of him, or us together at this time. He was with the U.S. Army of Majuro, Marshall Islands and was assigned to the 523rd Engineer Company, 84th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, and Hawaii. He died from wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device when a suicide bomber detonated a car with explosives near a checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul, Iraq.
Also killed was Sgt. John J. Savage, 26, of Texas, who was with the 94th Engineer Company at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Eight or nine civilians also were wounded. Their deaths came at a time when about 9,200 Schofield Barrack soldiers were based in Iraq. Suicide bombers killed 18 people in three attacks as the Iraqi government approved a “Status of Forces Agreement” that called for U.S. troops to withdraw from population centers by June 30, 2008.
The Web site www.yokwe.net, devoted to the Marshall Islands, said Sam was believed to be the first loss for the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the U.S. war on terrorism.
Eli Adams said he had the honor of serving with Solomon T. Sam and “can truly say he was one of the best.” “His positive attitude and dedication uplifted those around him. I’ll never forget his enthusiasm for what he was doing. He will be sorely missed,” Adams wrote on an online bulletin board.
At the start of United States-Marshall Islands annual defense talks in Majuro, U.S. Ambassador Clyde Bishop called for a moment of silence to remember Sam.
“He was a very kind young man,” said a Marshallese soldier stationed in Iraq after hearing the news of his death. “Every time we ran into each other, he was very friendly.”
Here is Spc. Kusto and myself attending Sam’s funeral in December of 2008. The last picture was taken by his gravesite with SSG Sam’s family, his wife kneeling, his parents and kids…
~ Alexander Lejjena, U.S. Army Veteran, “Pacific Islanders”
We wish to thank Alex for his service and honoring his friends life and service on Comes A Soldier’s Whisper, where we are all connected.
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