Julio C. Ordonez
Profile
Age: 54
From: San Antonio
Assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment, Task Force 34, Texas Army National Guard, Grand Prairie, Texas
Incident: Army Sgt. Maj. Julio C. Ordonez died Sept. 17 when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter he was in went down in the vicinity of Tallil, Iraq. Also killed were Chief Warrant Officer 2 Corry A. Edwards, Sgt. Daniel M. Eshbaugh, Sgt. Anthony L. Mason, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brady J. Rudolf, Cpl. Michael E. Thompson and 1st Lt. Robert Vallejo II.
Died: September 17, 2008
Pentagon IDs 4 Texans killed in chopper crash
The Associated Press
DALLAS — Seven National Guardsmen — including four from Texas — were on their way from Kuwait to Balad to join their unit last week when their helicopter crashed in Iraq, the Texas National Guard said Monday.
The four Texans killed in Thursday’s crash were: Chief Warrant Officer Corry A. Edwards, 38, of Kennedale Sgt. Anthony L. Mason, 37, of Springtown 1st Sgt. Julio C. Ordonez, 54, of San Antonio and 1st Lt. Robert Vallejo II, 28, of Richland Hills.
Three soldiers from the Oklahoma National Guard were also died.
“As we grieve with so many in our community over this extremely unfortunate news, our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of these citizen-soldiers,” said Lt. Gen. Charles G. Rodriguez, adjutant general of the Texas National Guard.
The soldiers had been called to active duty...