Reserves sergeant from LV killed in Kuwait

Jace Radke

Friday, Sept. 5, 2003 | 11:10 a.m.

Growing up as a surfer and musician on the famed North Shore of Hawaii, Cameron Sarno always took the time to look out for his family and friends -- and taking care of others carried over in his mission as a staff sergeant in the Army reserves.

"Before he was deployed to Kuwait earlier this year we sat down and talked and he just kept saying that he wanted to take care of the guys in his platoon," said Sarno's uncle, Dave Gallano of a Las Vegas. "I told him to make sure he took care of himself, but he felt responsible for the guys in his platoon.

"They were weekend warriors, and he wanted to make sure they were ready for the real thing."

Staff Sgt. Cameron Sarno, 43, was killed Monday in Kuwait City when he was hit by a truck while changing a tire.

Sarno, who lived in Las Vegas for the last five years, was the first soldier from Las Vegas killed in the Middle East since the beginning of the war in Iraq.

He was assigned to the Las Vegas-based 257th Transportation Company, a 273-soldier unit that was sent to Kuwait earlier this year. Sarno transferred to the unit when he moved to Las Vegas from Hawaii five years ago.

"He liked the military lifestyle, and he wanted to do something for his country," said Sarno's aunt, Nancy Gurdison of Las Vegas. "He was a special person who was dedicated to his country.

"He said he would take a bullet for one of his guys, but we didn't expect it to happen this way."

Sarno was deployed with the 257th in November to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and then was sent to Kuwait in February in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The soldiers in the 257th drive heavy trucks and transport tanks and other large military vehicles.

Before being deployed Sarno worked for three years as a driver at Silver State Materials Corp., a local ready-mix concrete company.

Sarno's cousin Brian Sarno said his family knew that Sarno would be in danger in the Middle East, but relatives were still stunned by the news of his death.

"It blows me away because this was such a freak accident," said Brian Sarno, who also lives in Las Vegas. "He (Cameron) was always cautious, always looking out for other people. This is just hard to deal with, hard to talk about."

Gallano said he was shocked when he heard about his nephew's death from his sister.

"I guess he was working on a loose lugnut or something, and a semi truck didn't see him," Gallano said. "We knew he was in the Middle East, but Kuwait is supposed to be like our home base.

"I don't know what happened."

Cameron Sarno joined the Army after completing high school, and later became a reservist in Hawaii, said Gurdison. He has one son, Cameron Takeuchi, 22, of Hawaii, who is also in the Army and just returned to the United States from a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Brian Sarno said he has fond memories of going to the beach with his cousin while growing up in Hawaii.

"I always thought of him as a big brother," Brian Sarno said. "Everybody in Hawaii grows up either surfing, boogie boarding or fishing, and he would always take me surfing."

Cameron Sarno also loved all kinds of music, and played several instruments, including the guitar and the ukulele, Brian Sarno said.

"He'd play Hawaiian music with the family," Brian Sarno said. "Sometimes he'd come over and we'd just play together."

Cameron Sarno's family and friends referred to him by the nickname "Boodee," but nobody really knows how he came by the moniker, Brian Sarno said.

"I work at the Bellagio, and I run into people who know Boodee," Brian Sarno said. "He had a great personality and was always smiling."

Gallano said the nickname may have come from the television series "Cheyenne" and "Cheyenne Bodie," the title character played by Clint Walker.

"I think his dad told me that once," Gallano said. "Bodie may have turned into Boodee somehow."

Sarno, a black belt in karate, had plans to open his own karate instruction school in Las Vegas, Gurdison said.

A private memorial service will be held in Las Vegas on Friday, with the funeral held in Hawaii on the island of Oahu, family members said.

Sarno is the third soldier from Nevada to die in the Middle East since the war began.

Marine Lance Cpl. Donald John Cline, 21, of Sparks, was killed on March 23 during a battle in Southern Iraq. Marine Lt. Frederick Pokorney Jr, 31, of Tonopah, also died on March 23 during fighting near An Nasiriyah.