WAHIAWA, Hawaii — Sgt. Alexis Gagalac says he was at National Guard drill practice when his cell phone beeped with a message from his mother: “Come back home. Your brother is dead.”
Sgt. Alexander Gagalac, 28, of Wahiawa, died just eight days before he was to leave the war. A rocket-propelled grenade hit his Humvee on Sept. 9 while he was on a combat patrol in Hawijah, Iraq.
Gagalac’s brother said he and Alexander, born just two minutes apart, were virtually inseparable. They joined the Army together in 2002 but were assigned to different units.
The surviving brother says he has asked the Army if he could escort his brother’s body home. The...