'A very young man has died'

At a soldier's funeral, family and friends reflect on the sacrifice of war and the loss of so many young people across America.

	[Times photo: Chris Zuppa]
	Carlos Baez and Jeannette Carrasco weep Wednesday over the casket of their son Army Pfc. Roberto "Robert" Baez, 19, who was killed in Iraq, during a service at Bay Pines National Cemetery in Seminole.

TAMPA - The funeral Mass for Army Pfc. Roberto "Robert" Baez was almost entirely in Spanish.

The memorial program depicted a gleaming Liberty Bell above an American flag. It, too, was printed in Spanish.

Born: 30 de Octubre 1985. Queens, New York.

Died: 3 de Octubre 2005. Iraq.

Baez, 19, was killed in Iraq after an explosion leveled his Humvee.

The Mass Wednesday at Incarnation Catholic Church, attended by 30 family members and friends, recalled Baez's sacrifice in a war that has cut deeply across the nation, stealing sons and daughters from heartland farm towns to Tampa's Dominican community.

Baez's father, Carlos, who works for an airport caterer, and his mother, Jeannette Carrasco, a teacher's aide, came from the Dominican Republic.

They had hoped their youngest son would study psychiatry after the Army.

"Everyone that comes to this country is looking for the American dream for them and their kids to live in freedom," the Rev. Eugene Gancarz said after he led the service. "We feel the pain, the sorrow of the family. A very young man has died."

The Associated Press reports that at least 1,960 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003.

From Florida, 103 have died, including 12 from Hillsborough, three from Pinellas, three from Pasco and two from Citrus counties, according to a Times analysis of Defense Department information.

"It's only occasions like these when it really hits home - that young men and young women are dying for our sake," the Rev. Eric Hunter told those gathered at Baez's funeral.

He prayed that the Lord would bring the troops quickly and safely home.

Uniformed members of the 260th Quartermaster Battalion from Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga., wheeled Baez's casket in and out of the church.

Sgt. Michael Peagler carried a folded American flag for Carrasco, who leaned heavily on her husband, Carlos Baez.

In the pews sat Maj. Gen. Bill Caldwell, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division of Fort Bragg, N.C., where Baez was based. .

In the past 10 days, Caldwell's division has lost eight paratroopers in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said.

They were from North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Maryland, Ohio and Louisiana.

"You can see it's all across the United States of America," Caldwell said. "Those are brothers in arms."

Caldwell planned to attend the funeral of each, giving families some solace by telling them how much their sons meant to the nation.

He said he told the Baez family that Baez, an Alonso High School graduate, was "one you could just look at and tell he was going to be a future leader in America."

Then the major general got into a car, which took him to Bay Pines National Cemetery, where the paratrooper's gray casket was lowered into the ground.

Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Justin George can be reached at 813 226-3368 or jgeorge@sptimes.com

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