Ruben Estrella-Soto
Profile
Age: 18
From: El Paso, Texas
Assigned to 507th Maintenance Company, Fort Bliss, Texas
Incident: Army Pvt. 2 Ruben Estrella-Soto was killed in an ambush near Nasiriyah, Iraq.
Died: March 23, 2003
Relatives remember slain soldier’s birthday
Associated Press
EL PASO, Texas — Outside Army Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto’s room, family members held a small cake, sadly singing “Las Mananitas,” the traditional Mexican birthday song.
“There was such an emptiness,” Estrella-Soto’s father, Ruben Estrella, said Thursday. “He’s 20 today. He’s left a void.”
A member of Fort Bliss’ 507th Maintenance Company, Estrella-Soto was killed on March 23, 2003, along with eight other Fort Bliss soldiers when their convoy was ambushed pre-dawn in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. Five other soldiers were wounded and seven were captured. The convoy on Iraqi Highway 7 had made a wrong turn.
Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, who was captured and died later, is listed as one of the nine killed.
The Estrella-Soto family’s church, San Juan Diego Roman Catholic Church, will have a Mass at 7 p.m. Friday to remember Estrella-Soto’s death and celebrate his birthday.%3