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'These Are The Bravest Men I've Ever Known'

Dec- 9-2004 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

Link to Full Article (Photos included)
By Keith Eldridge

FORT LEWIS - Two young soldiers from Fort Lewis who were killed in Iraq both leave behind wives who are expecting.

Staff Sergeant Salamo Tuialuuluu and Sgt. David Mitts were killed in an ambush. Fellow soldiers vow to keep the men's memories of heroism alive for their children.

Army Chaplain says, "These two men were heroes." The base chapel was filled to overflowing and filled with emotions to honor their memories.

Both members of the Stryker Brigade were killed when their vehicle came under machine gun and rocket fire in an ambush. Mitts and Tuialuuluu returned fire allowing the rest of the squad to escape.

A letter from fellow soldier Joseph Dallas on the front line in Iraq was read for the families. Sgt. Dallas' letter says: "I never believed in my lifetime I would know such acts of courage and sacrifice that occurred on this day. It'll affect me forever. These are the bravest men I've ever known."

Those are the words the people here will help the children of these two soldiers remember. Tuialuuluu has an 8-month daughter and his wife is pregnant with their second child.

Mitts was about to become a father. His wife is pregnant with their first child, a son.

The letter continues: "I, as many soldiers in this company, will tell the stories of heroism to the children of these two American heroes who sacrificed the joys of being a husband and a father so other men could have that privilege to."

Related Entries: Sgt. David A. Mitts and Staff Sgt. Salamo J. Tuialuuluu.


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