Fallen Hero

A Long Island City soldier, who would have turned 25 this month, was killed in a bomb blast in Kirkuk, Iraq.
Specialist Brian Ritzberg died while conducting security for a Police Transition Team on Monday, April 2 when a vehicle driven by an apparent suicide bomber exploded near his military compound, officials said.
“He had his whole life ahead of him,” Ritzberg’s devastated father, Brian Sr., said. “He loved life; he loved people; people loved him; and life loved him.”
At the time of his death, Ritzberg had been assigned to the 97th Military Police Battalion in the 977th Military Police Company in Fort Riley, KS, according the Defense Department. The unit was part of the 1st Infantry Division.
Local political leaders issued statements to Ritzberg’s family and wife extending their sympathies.
“He now joins the ranks of our nation’s honored war dead and leaves us with a debt that we can never repay,” said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. “[Ritzberg] is now the 18th son of Queens to lose his life during this war.”
A graduate of Thomas A. Edison Vocational & Technical High School in Jamaica and former high school track star, Ritzberg enlisted in February 2005 to get experience to become a police officer.
“He either wanted to be a police officer or work with computers,” Brian Sr. said, explaining that his son was self-taught in electronics.
Ritzberg’s father expected his son to return home in July. The last time they saw each other was Thanksgiving 2006, Brian Sr. said.
“He is my only child, my brother’s only nephew, and my mother’s only grandson,” Brian Sr. said, explaining that all three of Ritzberg’s siblings are half brothers. “There is no other kid in this family. He was the last.”
Ritzberg’s 20-year-old wife, Clara, a graduate of Richmond Hill High School, had also signed up as a reservist and is part of a unit based in Fort Riley. The couple lived together in an apartment in Long Island City, and was eager to start a family together, Brian Sr. said.
“To me, family is the most important thing life has to offer. When the world turns its back on you they will always be there,” Ritzberg wrote in a comment section on his personal MySpace.com online page.
Photographs on his webpage depicted Ritzberg in military garb and posing with his bride, and on Wednesday, April 3, Specialist Anthony Autry left a message on Ritzberg’s page telling his friend to “Rest in peace.”
When asked to describe his fallen comrade, Autry said, “[Ritzberg] was a good friend and always had my back when I needed him. Loyal, free spirited. He just made me laugh. He didn’t deserve this.”
Below Autry’s comment was one Clara had written on her husband’s webpage, saying, “Smiles and tears, giggles and laughs, late night calls and cute photographs. I’ll be there for you ‘til the day of my death. Best friends forever ‘til my very last breath.”
On Wednesday, April 4, two days after her husband’s death, Clara’s MySpace.com screen name - the top friend on Ritzberg’s page - was listed, as “I love my husband!”
Her profile photo showed the couple kissing, and a half-dozen friends left messages for Ritzberg’s young wife offering condolences and support.
Brian Sr. said that family members planned to grieve together privately for Ritzberg, and called his son’s death “senseless.”
“If you want to put a question mark at the end of your story, you can put why he died. Because I would like to know the reason,” the heartbroken dad said.