The identity of a 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division soldier killed in Iraq on Aug. 16 was released by the Pentagon late Tuesday.
Staff Sgt. Jeffrey S. Loa, 32, of Waianae, Hawaii, died of injuries suffered when a makeshift bomb detonated nearby while he was on foot patrol in Ramadi.
Loa was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment, headquartered in Baumholder, Germany. Loa was the second soldier from the battalion to die in Iraq this deployment; the first was Spc. David "Nick" Crombie.
Loa was the oldest of three brothers, and he also had a younger stepbrother. All were in the Army, according to the Honolulu Advertiser. Brother Jason Loa was in Egypt after being in Iraq earlier this year, and Monty Loa had been on deployment to Iraq, but is now in Hawaii for the funeral, according to the Advertiser. Loa’s stepbrother, Lloyd Mageo, is stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
“The younger ones wanted to follow each other [into the Army],” Tanya Bishop, Loa’s sister, told the Advertiser.
Loa grew up in American Samoa and moved to Hawaii a decade ago, according to The Associated Press. He joined the Army about nine years ago and married his wife, Mary, in March last year.
“He would have been a great father because he was like a second dad to my kids,” Bishop said.
“He joined the armed forces, so (going to Iraq) was part of his job,” his father, Duke Loa, told the Advertiser. “The Samoans feel that it is an honor to serve in the military as part of their service to the (United States).”
An Aug. 17 press release from the Defense Department mistakenly reported the death as being from the division’s 1st Brigade.
As of Wednesday, information about a memorial ceremony for Loa was not available.
