Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

33, of Brandon, Fla.

assigned to the 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Nov. 16 in Balad, Iraq, of injuries sustained Nov. 15 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Taji, Iraq.

Roman-Cruz lived with his wife and children in Brandon, near Kingswood Elementary School, for a year between 2002 and 2003 before moving to Tennessee, she said… Before then, they were in Puerto Rico, where they were both born and raised in the same town. They didn’t meet until after high school. Her cousin’s husband introduced them and they married 13 years ago, she said… He worked in construction both in Puerto Rico and when they moved to Florida. He joined the military to secure a better-paying job with benefits to improve their economic standing.

what is this?

Possibly related posts (auto-generated)

• youthful desperadoes (1)
• your vote counts (maybe) (6)
• your turn (1)
• your thoughts on pam-cakes? (20)
• your teeth are ok, but your gums gotta go (14)