NMI mourns fallen soldiers

Sympathy poured in for the families of Army Reserve members Derence W. Jack and Wilgene Lieto, who were killed in Iraq on Monday.

Relatives, friends and other community members arrived in great numbers at the wakes Tuesday evening to pay their respects to the fallen soldiers and offer their condolences to the surviving family members.

Rosary vigils were held for Jack at his family’s residence in Gualo Rai at 7pm and for Lieto at Tanapag Church at 8pm. The vigils will continue every night until the funeral.

Flags all over the Commonwealth will be flown at half-staff for a period of one week to honor the two men.

Rep. Arnold Palacios, an uncle of Jack’s wife Melissa, said his family was shocked by the news of Jack’s death.

“It’s always very sad and shocking when we lose soldiers from our community because it is too small. This is especially more so if the person killed was part of your family. Our hearts go out to the family of both soldiers, particularly the spouse and kids,” Palacios said.

“These two soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. We’ve said this again and again before, but what happened gives us a greater understanding of what ‘fighting for freedom’ meant,” he added.

Palacios also called on the community to pray for the safe return of all other servicemen from the CNMI who are in still in Iraq.

The Saipan Tribune learned on Tuesday evening that one of Jack’s main purposes for visiting Saipan in August was to see his severely ill mother. The family has reportedly been having a difficult time telling the mother about Jack’s death, as he was very close to her.

House leadership spokesman Charles Reyes Jr. expressed regret that he did not have a chance to get to know Lieto personally. He just found out that Lieto was his second cousin, he said.

“It’s very distressing to lose soldiers from Saipan. We are very sympathetic to their families. We hope that we won’t have any more of our men meeting this fate in Iraq or Afghanistan,” Reyes said.

Ruth Coleman, executive officer for the Military Veterans Affairs Office, said the bodies of Jack and Lieto are now in Philadelphia. But they are not expected to arrive on Saipan in five days to one week.

“The military is making sure that the bodies will be presented properly to their families,” she said.

Full military honors are also being prepared for the two soldiers, Coleman added.

Jack, 31, and Lieto, 28, were killed when a bomb blew up while they were on patrol in Balad, Iraq Monday night (Saipan time).

They were both due to come home in less than four months.

The two members of Echo Company were among the U.S. Army reservists called to active duty in August 2004. They left for a one-year tour of duty in Iraq in January 2005.

Jack was a Gualo Rai resident and worked as cash department manager at Bank of Guam. He was married to Melissa Jack. They had a 4-year-old daughter.

Lieto was a police officer from Tanapag. He was married to Tiara Lieto, with whom he had a 4-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.

Initial reports showed that the two soldiers were on patrol when an improvised explosive device blew up and hit their vehicle Monday morning in Iraq (evening on Saipan).

Citing information relayed to her by military officials, Melissa Jack said the explosion caused the soldiers’ car to overturn.

Jack and Lieto, presumably along with other soldiers aboard the vehicle, were immediately taken to the hospital. Jack subsequently died of internal bleeding and head trauma. Lieto expired after losing too much blood. (AGNES E. DONATO
and MARCONI CALINDAS)