AWAY FROM HOME

CALEB SCHABER

Tuesday, July 4, 2006 | 7:23 a.m.

In Southern Nevada, they had different jobs, different lives. But in Iraq they are all Army soldiers at war, and today they'll celebrate the Fourth of July from their base 18 miles north of Baghdad.

Pfc. Elizabeth Dominguez

Pfc. Elizabeth Dominguez, 20, works in the health clinic for the aviation brigade at Camp Taji.

She joined the Army after graduating from Cimarron-Memorial High School in 2004 because she wanted to serve her country, and "I wanted a good education." She also wanted the travel and a little excitement.

Dominguez said she misses the lights of Las Vegas and can't wait to go again to Olive Garden.

Her amusements these days are found at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation center, which offers karaoke, movies, cards nights and music. She also plays her acoustic guitar and works on songs she plans to play for her father when she returns to Las Vegas late in the year.

Her father is Rick Dominguez, who volunteers for the First Friday arts festival, held the first Friday of every month in downtown Las Vegas.

"Say hello to everyone back home," she said. "I'll be back home soon."

Reached in Las Vegas on Monday, her father said the family is looking forward to her return. "Maybe then we can get together and play some of those songs."

1st Sgt. Mark Grumbach

Mark Grumbach, 42, is a career soldier who enlisted in Las Vegas and served in the area as a recruiter for three years.

Grumbach's father, Karl Grumbach Sr., is a retired senior master sergeant in the Air Force and still lives in Las Vegas.

"I come from a huge military family," Grumbach said. "The idea is to join, it does not matter which branch."

Grumbach works in the Aviation Brigade. His unit flies helicopters on a variety of missions, including medivacs and transporting Iraqi government officials. With the threat of attacks on ground vehicles, the preferred method of travel is by air.

"I don't ask my soldiers to do anything I wouldn't do," he said. "I fly once a week with my soldiers."

This is the second time that Grumbach has been in Iraq.

"After the first Gulf War, I figured that we would be back," he said.

"I am used to deploying, but I miss my family." Grumbach has three daughters, the eldest of whom has enlisted in the Air Force.

Grumbach spends his free time reading. He prefers history, science fiction - and military manuals. He is a 1999 graduate of Adam Smith University in Honolulu.

Although he could have retired two years ago, Grumbach plans to stay in the Army and go for a promotion.

"I haven't regretted a minute of it."

Pfc. Theodore Dixon

Theodore Dixon, 32, enlisted in the Army while studying film at UNLV in March 2005.

"I've been curious about the military all my life," he said. "I am glad I joined because of the people I work with."

Dixon works in the aviation brigade as a truck driver, mechanic and a guard.

"I like it quite a bit," he said, but added that he does not do much driving at Camp Taji. "I did convoy up here," he said. "It was surprisingly uneventful."

Which is a surprising way to describe what happened on the trip. Dixon's convoy was attacked in Baghdad, although the fight was fairly minor.

"We have it pretty easy compared to the guys that are outside the wire a lot," he said. "This is a walk in the park."

After Dixon completes his four years in the Army, he plans to return to civilian life. He has a girlfriend in Las Vegas and wants to return.

"I like it there," he said. "I appreciate Nevada a lot more, especially when you compare it to Iraq."

The creature comfort he misses most is being able to go out to the store and get what you want. Iraq is not a place a U.S. soldier can wander around and shop, with the exception of the shops at Camp Taji.

"People just see the bad stuff in the news - car bombs and sniper attacks," he said. "There is a lot of good stuff going on. It's not as drastic as the media portray it."

Pfc. Marie Fajardo

Marie Fajardo is serving in Iraq even before she becomes a U.S. citizen - and she got there almost by accident.

While vacationing in California to visit her mother, Fajardo tagged along with a cousin as he took the Armed Services Vocation Aptitude Battery. She decided to take it, too.

"I passed," she said. "He didn't.

"Two weeks later I was in basic training."

Fajardo is a mother of two girls, ages 10 and 12. She lived in Las Vegas for 13 years, working various jobs at Binion's Horseshoe, New York-New York, Mandalay Bay, the Venetian and the Hard Rock Cafe. Her dream job while in Las Vegas would have been to work for the Federal Aviation Administration.

She has a degree in aviation technology, but it came from her home country - the Philippines - and it could not be considered by the FAA because it is from outside the United States, she said.

Fajardo learned during basic training that she was destined for Iraq. "At first I didn't want to go, but once I got here, I liked it."

She works as a specialist in a unit devoted to combating nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Her duties include making sure that gas masks and decontamination equipment are in good working order.

All of her work is within the confines of the base. "I haven't been outside the wire," she said.

She returned to Las Vegas on leave recently to see her daughters. "I haven't talked to them" about the war, she said. "It's hard, especially if you are female. I hope they are proud of me."

She also took a little time to visit some of her favorite places, Studio 54 and Tommy Rockers, as well as the new South Coast.

Her citizenship should come fairly soon, she says.

As for celebrating her adopted country's Independence Day, "I just want to say hi to my mom, sisters and daughters."

Pfc. Stephan Ruddy

Stephan Ruddy, 21, works as a guard on the gates at Camp Taji. He joined the Army after graduating from Palo Verde High School, where "I was mostly into theater."

Now, he's considering serving 18 more years in the Army and retiring. After that, he would like to get a degree in marine biology and study whales.

His Nevada roots serve him well in Iraq, he said. "The heat is not a problem," he said, standing in the sun, as he does every day at the guard post.

Ruddy doesn't find much to like in Iraq, except that "you get to learn about cultures."

"Mostly, I miss my family," he said. He was on leave in Las Vegas for a time after his 21st birthday, which meant he could see a new side of his city.

Now, he said, "I miss all the casinos."

Spc. Angelo Ricciardo

Angelo Ricciardo, 25, signed up for the Army two years ago. He works refueling Apache helicopters.

"It's a pretty nice camp, but like everybody else I am just waiting to go home."

Ricciardo was born in Las Vegas, and he graduated from Cheyenne High School in 1999. Before joining the Army, he worked as a maintenance engineer at several Strip resorts. He's a big fan of Caesars Palace, and blackjack.

He joined the Army because "I wanted to do something on my own." So now he works 12 hours a day, seven days a week. His softball team just won the Camp Taji League Championship.

He plans to move back to Las Vegas in two years, after he finishes his four-year hitch. Ricciardo is engaged to Laura, who lives in Kansas.

Ricciardo's father, David, is director of maintenance for Ark Las Vegas restaurants. Reached in Las Vegas on Monday, David Ricciardo said, "We miss him very much."

Ricciardo was born three months premature, David Ricciardo said. "You should see him now. He's quite a survivor."

Spc. Allen Morgan

Allen Morgan, 21, joined the Army after graduating from Cimarron-Memorial High School in 2003. He works as a Black Hawk helicopter mechanic, a job that can require him to strip apart the entire aircraft to its wires.

"Iraqi itself isn't that bad," he said. Morgan's preferred relaxation is video games. Elder Scrolls III Morrowind, a game that allows players to choose roles leading to epic adventures on personal computers or Xboxes, is a favorite.

Morgan would like to make sergeant before leaving the Army. His long-range goal is to go into computer repair, which is why he studied avionics in the Army.

"The learning experience is pretty good," he said. "You really get to know your job out here."

His favorite hotel is Excalibur because "I'm into the medieval stuff." But he says he's not a big gambler. "Just tell my family that I am all right."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Caleb Schaber went to Iraq originally to work as a contractor. He later decided to become a reporter covering Nevada soldiers serving in the Middle East. He files items on his Northern Nevada News Wire http://nvnewswire.com. Schaber is currently in Afghanistan. Sun Reporter Mary Manning contributed to this report.

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