Erik H Silva
Profile
Age: 22
From: Chula Vista, Calif.
Assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Incident: Marine Cpl. Erik H. Silva was killed in action in Iraq.
Died: April 03, 2003
The last time Erik Silva visited his hometown, the 23-year-old Marine attended the town’s annual carrot festival and got a special blessing from his grandmother.
On April 3, two months after that visit, the infantry rifleman died in combat when his platoon was ambushed in Iraq, said his brother.
The youngest of four children, Erik Silva graduated from Holtville High, where he played the trumpet, was a drum major and a member of the varsity golf team.
“He joined the Marines mainly because he wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement. The best way to do that is to join the military,” said Isaac Silva, 28.
When Silva last returned home for a few weeks in late January and early February, Isaac Silva said he and his brother had a sobering talk,...