We Honor and Remember:

SPC Yoe M. Aneiros​
Hometown: Newark, NJ
Age: 20
Died: September 7, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Fort Riley, KS
Birth: 1984
Death: Sep. 7, 2004  in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, when his patrol vehicle came under attack by enemy forces using rocket-propelled grenades.
Yoe was a native of Cuba and had become a U.S. citizen only a few months before his second deployment to Iraq. 
 
One night in Iraq, pinned down in their fortifications, Yoe M. Aneiros and the other soldiers in his unit got to talking. For some reason, the conversation drifted to kites. Their staff sergeant confessed he'd never flown one. The next morning, when the sergeant approached his men, up high in the desert sky fluttered a kite made from some sticks, a plastic bag, and a length of string.  Aneiros held it out to him. "I taught him to be a soldier, and he taught me how to love," said Sgt. William Ruth.

Aneiros, 20, of Newark, N.J., died Sept. 7 _ his birthday _ in Baghdad when his vehicle came under attack. He was stationed at Fort Riley. Aneiros came from Cuba along with his mother seeking a better life, said Armando Aneiros, a relative.

He enlisted in the Army in September 2002 and relatives said he hoped to become a doctor. He was counting on the military to help pay the way. "He was one of those guys who never have a 'no' for you. He always had a smile on his face," said Armando Aneiros. He is survived by his wife, Alexandra.

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