Hector Ramos
Profile
Age: 20
From: Aurora, Ill.
Assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Incident: Marine Lance Cpl. Hector Ramos was killed Jan. 26 when the CH-53E helicopter in which he was riding crashed near Rutbah, Iraq. Twenty-nine Marines and one sailor also were
Died: January 26, 2005
Aurora Marine among those killed in Iraq helicopter crash
Associated Press
CHICAGO — A 20-year-old suburban Chicago man was among the Marines killed when a helicopter crashed during sandstorms in Iraq, killing 31 troops on the deadliest day for U.S. forces since the Iraq war began, officials said Thursday.
Hector Ramos of Aurora was known as an energetic high school student who was heavily involved in the arts and drama, said East Aurora School District spokesman Clayton Muhammad.
The Ramos family learned of his death Wednesday, Muhammad said.
His mother, Nancy Ramos, said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks inspired Ramos to join the Marines.
“When 9-11 happened, the first day he went to go sign up. He came home from school, and he told me, ‘I signed up. I need to do this. I always wanted to,”’ his mother, Nancy Ramos, told WLS-TV Thursday in Chicago. “I am the proud mother of a Marine.”
According to the...