More on the life of one of those killed by the mob in Fallujah

[Quetzal]

Hawai'i family mourns victim of Fallujah mob

HONOKA'A, Hawai'i — One of the four American contractors ambushed in Iraq and then dragged from their vehicles and mutilated by an angry mob this week was born and raised in rural Kukuihaele on the Big Island.

Neighbors and family cried and gathered yesterday after official notice arrived of the death Wesley J. Batalona, 48, a retired U.S. Army Ranger sergeant who was raised in plantation housing near Waipi'o Valley.

Aloha Dela Rosa, Batalona's younger sister, said her husband, Fredo, tried to talk Batalona out of going to Iraq at a February birthday party for a family member in Haina. It was the day before Batalona left the Big Island for the Middle East.

Batalona, who lived with his wife, June, in Pa'auilo, wouldn't consider staying home, his sister said.

more...

Hawai'i family mourns victim of Fallujah mob

[smartass]

1. Was he a mercenary?

[Quetzal]

2. From the article

Blackwater was hired by the Pentagon to provide security for convoys that delivered food in the Fallujah area, according to the company.

snip

He seemed to feel a tug back to the action, Dela Rosa said, although she never knew much about the work Batalona did for Blackwater.

I don't know. If anyone has any other information, it would be appreciated.

[smartass]

3. Actually he was guarding the food which was to be delivered to US

troops. They were not on a humanitarian mission to the Iraquis. Also, a couple days before this incident, american forces had killed 12 Iraqui civilians in Fallujah.

[EdGy]

4. I'd like to see

this kind of detail and focus on the grieving relatives about even a fraction of the Iraqis who were killed by US military actions in Iraq...

I'm not holding my breath.