Soldier from LV dies in Iraq vehicle crash

Eric Leake

Monday, Jan. 10, 2005 | 11:15 a.m.

A 27-year-old soldier from Las Vegas died in Iraq when his vehicle crashed into a canal in Ramadi on Friday, officials announced Sunday.

Army Pfc. Daniel F. Guastaferro was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Camp Casey, Korea, according to a Defense Department statement released Sunday.

"It happened as the result of an accident," Army duty officer Tom Hankus said Sunday.

Although Guastaferro's hometown was listed as Las Vegas, Hankus said no relatives were listed for the soldier.

Ed and Rebecca Wiens live next door to an address listed as Guastaferro's in Sun City Summerlin. The Wienses said Guastaferro lived there with his grandmother though she has since moved.

"He was a really nice neighbor," Rebecca Wiens said. She added that Guastaferro was a racing enthusiast and didn't seem like a typical soldier.

"I was really surprised when he joined the Army," she said.

The Wienses said Guastaferro had studied in California prior to joining the Army.

Guastaferro joined the Army in April 2003 and lived in Bellflower, Calif., in Los Angeles County, before moving to Las Vegas, Army officials said.

Guastaferro's relatives mostly live in Southern California, and referred calls seeking comment to an Army casualty officer in Las Vegas. The officer said he hoped to have more information about Guastaferro later today.

Guastaferro is the 11th serviceman from Nevada or assigned to a Nevada military base to be killed in the war on terror in Iraq, Kuwait or Afghanistan since fighting began in late 2001.

The last Las Vegas resident killed was 19-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas H. Anderson, a June 2002 graduate of Bonanza High School. He was killed Nov. 12 in a Humvee rollover in Iraq's Al Anbar Province, according to a Defense Department statement.

Anderson had been assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment. 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Anderson died in the same province where Marine Pfc. John Lukac, another 19-year-old from Las Vegas, died on Oct. 30. Lukac was one of eight Marines killed and nine injured when terrorists crashed a sport utility vehicle full of explosives into the convoy that Lukac was riding in, military officials said.

Lukac was a member of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Hawaii.

Airman 1st Class Jesse Samek, an Arkansas resident stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, was killed on Oct. 21 in Afghanistan when the HH-60 Pavehawk helicopter he was in crashed.

Marine Cpl. William Salazar, a 26-year-old Las Vegas resident, was killed Oct. 15 when a car bomb exploded near Qaim, Iraq, along the Syrian border. Salazar was a member of Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

Another Las Vegas resident, 43-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Cameron Sarno, was killed Sept. 1, 2003, when he was hit by a truck in Kuwait. Sarno was a member of the Nevada Army Guard's 257th Transportation Co.

Army Capt. Joshua Byers, 29, of Sparks, was killed on July 23, 2003, outside Ramadi, Iraq, when the convoy he was riding in was attacked with explosives. Byers was a member of Fox Troop, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.

Another Sparks resident, Marine Lance Cpl. Donald Cline, 21, was killed on March 23, 2003, during fighting near An Nasiryah, Iraq. Cline was a member of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

Marine Lt. Frederick Pokorney Jr., 31, of Tonopah, was killed the same day in the battle near that same city. Pokorney was a member of the 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

Cpl. Matthew Commons, a Boulder City High School graduate, was killed March 4, 2002, in Afghanistan. Commons, a 21-year-old Army Ranger with the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, was on a mission to rescue a U.S. soldier captured by al-Qaida when he was killed.

Fallon High School graduate Army Spc. Jason Disney, 20, was killed in an accident at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan on Feb. 13, 2002.