William I. Salazar
Profile
Age: 26
From: Las Vegas
Assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Incident: Marine Cpl. William I. Salazar died Oct. 15 of wounds sustained due to enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.
Died: October 15, 2004
Las Vegas Marine killed in action in Iraq
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Less than two days before 26-year-old Marine Cpl. William Salazar was killed in a car bomb explosion in Iraq, he wrote an ominous e-mail to his father about the dangers he faced daily.
The missive was the last communication Gus Salazar received from his son, who had written to say happy birthday. The Las Vegas corporal died Friday along with two other U.S. troops in Anbar province in western Iraq.
“Dad, It’s getting tight around here,” the Marine wrote. “There have been a few near misses with road bombs. It’s scary, but I’m tough. I’ll be OK ... I’m still alive and well. Happy Birthday.”
William Salazar’s job in Operation Iraqi Freedom was to record footage of the war, said his uncle, 53-year-old Lou Salazar of Las Vegas.
“With what he was doing, we never thought that something like this would happen,” his uncle told The Las Vegas Sun....