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Fort Lewis honors soldier, Scout leader

Mar-11-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

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BRENT CHAMPACO; The News Tribune

The legacy left by Army Staff Sgt. Juan Solorio may be seen most clearly through the eyes of the youths he influenced most.
Friends and family knew the Fort Lewis soldier killed March 4 in Iraq as a loving husband and father. Fellow soldiers referred to him simply as “Solo.”

But to those in the post’s Boy Scout Troop 62, Solorio was a role model who coached them through a 50-mile hike near Chehalis last year. The 32-year-old from Dallas was a fixture at their weekly meetings and a father figure to boys whose parents are fighting overseas.

“He would just bring everybody’s spirits up,” said 14-year-old Scout Cisco Paulino. “I’ll miss him a lot.”

Cisco joined about 300 other Scouts, soldiers, friends and family who paid tribute to Solorio during a tearful memorial service Thursday at Fort Lewis’ Evergreen Chapel. Solorio died when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Mosul. His unit was under attack by enemy forces using small firearms, according to military officials.

Solorio was part of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division – the second Fort Lewis Stryker brigade to go to Iraq. It has lost 21 soldiers since deploying in October.[...]


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