ROSWELL, NM, US
U.S. Army
PFC, COMPANY C, 2D BATTALION, 37TH ARMOR, FRIEDBERG, GERMANY
03/07/2006, MOSUL, IRAQ
Ricky Salas Jr.’s mother kept in e-mail contact with her son while he was in Iraq. In those message, he confided what was in his heart. He said he saw awful things. He said he loved me, he missed me, he wanted me to be happy and proud of him. I was very proud of him, said Brenda Robertson.
Salas, 22, of Roswell, N.M., was killed March 7 by a roadside bomb in Mosul. He was assigned to Friedberg, Germany.
He’d always wanted to be the leader, and wanted to be the best at anything and everything, said Robertson. The former construction worker enlisted in the Army about 18 months ago so he would be able to care for his family and gain worldly experiences.
I’m hurting. I feel like a part of me is gone, she said.
Salas grew up in Lubbock, Texas, and married in 2002, building a home in Roswell with his wife, April, and two young children, a 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.
Salas was an outdoorsman who loved playing golf and put his family first, said Robertson, who is employed in a work-study program at Clovis Community College. Rick registered me for school, she said.
Ricky Salas leaves behind a wife and two children. He was assigned to the 37th Armored Regiment, C Company.