KILLED IN IRAQ, LOCAL PATRIOT KNEW DANGER BUT ENLISTED.Byline: TONY CASTRO Staff Writer In Nicholas ``Nick'' Steinbacher's last e-mail from Iraq on Dec. 9, the soldier who had just turned 22 told his family he was feeling great and was excited to be in Iraq. Steinbacher, an Army specialist who grew up in La Crescenta, had celebrated his birthday the previous day. He had been in Iraq just six weeks. ``Nick told his guys (Army buddies), `If I wasn't happy, I wouldn't be here,''' Steinbacher's older brother, Daniel, 23, said. A day after the soldier sent the e-mail, he was traveling in a Humvee caravan patrolling a section of Baghdad when the unit ran into roadside bombs. Steinbacher -- his family was notified this week -- died in that attack. On Wednesday, as his parents busied themselves with the logistics of having their son's body returned home, Daniel Steinbacher eulogized his brother as a modern American patriot willing to pay the ultimate price for his country. ``He was proud to go to Iraq,'' Daniel Steinbacher said. ``Nick couldn't stand being on the outside of the action. He didn't like the idea of somebody else doing something that he could be doing, too. He thought there was a job to do over there and that it was his duty to do it.'' Had it been up to Nicholas Steinbacher, he would have enlisted en·list·ed adj. Of, relating to, or being a member of a military rank below a commissioned officer or warrant officer. enlisted Adjective right after graduation from Crescenta Valley High School Crescenta Valley High School is an secondary school located at 2900 Community Avenue in La Crescenta-Montrose, an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The school is a part of the Glendale Unified School District. , where he had lettered in football four years and been the starting center his senior year, his brother said. ``Nick wanted to be a police officer and had scored really high on his military-aptitude tests and was getting all kinds of (military) recruiting letters, but our parents persuaded him to go to college for a couple of years,'' Daniel Steinbacher said. ``He truly lived life in the moment,'' his mother, Carolyn Steinbacher, said. Just a few credits shy of his Associate of Arts Associate of arts and Associate of science are two-year undergraduate degrees offered by many community colleges or junior colleges in the United States. Such degrees transfer to four-year institutions which offer full bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees. degree from College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. , Nicholas Steinbacher enlisted in the Army. He did his basic training at Fort Bragg Fort Bragg, U.S. army base, 11,136 acres (4,507 hectares), E N.C., N of Fayetteville; est. 1918. Originally an artillery post, it is now the principal U.S. army airborne-training center and the site of the Special Warfare School. , Ga., and infantry training at Fort Hood Fort Hood, U.S. army post, 209,000 acres (84,580 hectares), central Tex., near Killeen; est. 1942 on the site of old Fort Gates and named for Confederate Gen. John Hood. It is one of the army's largest installations and a major employer of the area. , Texas, where he was stationed until his deployment. ``Nick had enlisted in special-forces training,'' his older brother said, ``but during airborne training he'd broken a leg on his first jump, and that had taken him out of special forces and got him into infantry. ``But he loved doing what he was doing. He had gotten a military package. He was going to have money to go to college, and he had the G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill (officially titled the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944) provided for college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as GIs or G.I.s) as well as one year of unemployment compensation. , and he saw it as a way to prepare to be a police officer if that's what he wanted to do.'' His family was nervous when he was heading to war-torn Iraq, but he knew his mother and brothers -- Daniel and Kirk, 18 -- could draw on experience in coping with anxiety about a loved one's work. ``My dad (Paul) is a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. firefighter,'' Daniel Steinbacher said. ``We're used to dealing with a certain level of stress just from that. ``But the more nervous we got for Nick, as time for him to go got near, the more excited he got. He was proud to be going.'' News of the death quickly circulated in the tightly knit Adj. 1. tightly knit - closely and firmly integrated; "a tight-knit organization" tight-knit integrated - formed into a whole or introduced into another entity; "a more closely integrated economic and political system"- Dwight D. La Crescenta community. ``We're extremely lucky to have the support of our community, the high school, our family, friends and the firefighter community,'' Daniel Steinbacher said as he cherished memories of his brother, who ``loved fishing and the outdoors,'' having fun. ``We camped out a lot growing up, and that's what he loved to do. He loved to fish with his grandfather and with his buddies. ``Mom had said to him that, being where he was, he might want to take advantage of some of the fishing. ... But he said, `No, I want to come home and fish with my buddies.''' Funeral services funeral service n → misa de cuerpo presente funeral service n → service m funèbre funeral service funeral n are pending. The death has not shaken confidence among Nicholas' family and friends that he was glad he enlisted, Daniel said. ``Nick's heroes were George Bush and Bill O'Reilly Bill O'Reilly may refer to:
tony.castro(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3761 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) STEINBACHER (2 -- color) The Steinbachers: from left, Carolyn, Dan, Nick, Kirk and Paul. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion