Valley-born soldier killed in Iraq

HARLINGEN — A soldier with Cameron County ties was killed in Iraq last week by a roadside bomb, family members said Sunday.

Army Spc. Eric Domingo Salinas, 26, died on Thursday along with two other soldiers, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle, according to a news release issued by the Department of Defense.

Salinas was born in Harlingen and raised in Primera, a small community northwest of the city, said his aunt Gracie DeLeon in a telephone interview from Houston.

He attended Harlingen’s Wilson Elementary School but moved to Houston with his mother when he was 9-years-old.

Salinas was scheduled to return home from his tour of duty in September, three days before his birthday, his aunt said.

“We don’t know the details. They triggered an underground bomb Â… an IED,” said his aunt Gracie DeLeon in a telephone interview from Houston.

Also killed were Staff Sgt. Fernando Santos, 29, of San Antonio, and Spc. Cristian Rojas-Gallego, 24, of Loganville, Ga., according to the defense department

In a statement describing Salinas’ death, military officials listed his age as 25, but Salinas said he was 26.

All three were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Wash.

“He wanted to fight for our country,” DeLeon said. “He wanted to see the world, see different people and different cultures. It was something he always wanted to do.”

Family members describe Salinas as a sports lover and a particular fan of soccer and basketball. He also liked to dance, they said.

“He was the clown of the family. He was always making everybody laugh. He was always coming out with silly things to do to entertain us,” she said. “He was a great person.”

He leaves behind a 4-year-old son and several relatives, including his grandmother, who still live in the Rio Grande Valley, DeLeon said.

The family expects his body to be returned to Houston and then transported to the Valley.

Funeral services are planned for Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Harlingen and will be followed by a burial at Restlawn Memorial Park in La Feria.

Funeral home staff said Sunday that they expect to receive the body in about two weeks.

Salinas is the second soldier from the Harlingen area and the 25th Valley service member to die in Afghanistan or Iraq since 2001, according to a tally kept by The Monitor.

Army Spc. Darrell Wayne Shipp, of Harlingen, was killed in Baghdad on Jan. 25.

He is memorialized by a plaque at the Harlingen Public Library, which was dedicated by city officials last month.

The Pentagon has confirmed 3,651 military deaths in Iraq since combat operations began there in March 2003.