Loved ones in South Sound recall lives beyond Iraq
JENNIFER LATSON THE OLYMPIAN
Chelsea White will remember how her father used to crack her up with his Marvin the Martian impressions.
Riikka Jacobsen will hold on to the memory of her husband serenading her with songs by Sting -- his favorite artist.
The Olympia 12-year-old and the Lacey mother of four are among six families mourning the loss of Fort Lewis soldiers killed by a suicide bomber Tuesday in a Mosul mess tent.
The deadliest single attack against Americans since the beginning of the war has had heartbreaking consequences locally.
In addition to White's stepfather, Staff Sgt. Darren Vankomen, and Jacobsen's husband, Capt. Bill Jacobsen Jr., 31, the four other Fort Lewis Stryker Brigade soldiers killed in the blast were:
- Staff Sgt. Julian Melo, originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., but whose family lives near Fort Lewis, according to the Army. The 47-year-old has been in the military for 12 years.
- Staff Sgt. Robert S. Johnson, 23, a chemical operations specialist from Castro Valley, Calif.
- Spc. Jonathan Castro, 21, of Corona, Calif., a combat engineer.
- Pfc. Lionel Ayro, 22, of Jeanerette, La., a combat engineer.
A memorial service for all six soldiers will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Fort Lewis.
For Jacobsen, the devastating phone call came on her ninth wedding anniversary.
This Christmas Eve, Riikka Jacobsen was joined by her parents -- from Finland -- and her husband's parents -- from Charlotte, N.C. -- in a living room decked with stockings, gifts, and a triangular-folded U.S. flag honoring the fallen soldier.
She remembered him as the perfect husband.
"He had a great sense of humor. He always made me laugh," said Jacobsen, wearing a T-shirt bearing a screened photograph of the couple.
She recalled how the captain, who deployed for Iraq Oct. 13, would wrestle with their three sons and 2-year-old daughter and take them for walks in the woods.
This was the first time Capt. Jacobsen had deployed overseas, and the two had talked about the dangers of his mission and what she would do if he didn't come home, she said.
She might move to North Carolina now, to be closer to his parents and five siblings, she said.
The captain's father, Bill Jacobsen Sr., a retired lieutenant colonel, said his son was committed to bringing the members of his company home alive.
"I know how hard that can be," said Jacobsen. "He felt a real obligation to his soldiers."
The Vietnam veteran choked up when he described his son's accomplishments.
"You couldn't ask for a better person. You couldn't ask for a better son: totally committed to his family, totally committed to his wife, totally committed to his country," said Jacobsen. "We know it's not in vain."
The eyes of Jacobsens' neighbors on Gray Court were red as they cooked a Christmas Eve ham next door.
"We've been crying for the last three days," said one neighbor, James Harris. "It's devastated everybody's Christmas. This is a tightly-knit cul-de-sac, and now it's awfully empty-feeling.
He recalled that when Jacobsen played with his children in the front yard, he always included Harris' grandson.
"He's touched our hearts," Harris added. "How many neighbors do you have that'll touch your heart?"
Olympia family grieves
Soldiers told Stephaine Vankomen on Tuesday her husband had been killed in the Mosul blast that day; half an hour later, Christmas presents arrived from her husband.
"We agreed not to have our Christmas until he came home," said Stephaine Vankomen. "He had sent me an e-mail and said, 'I know what our pact was, but you know me. I can't go without doing something for you.' "
The couple lived in Olympia with Stephaine's daughter, Chelsea White. Vankomen was White's stepfather, but she considered him a father, she said.
"Me and him always goofed around," White said. "When he would pack my lunch for school, he would always put little notes in it, like 'Hi, dork.' "
Sgt. Vankomen, 33, was the youngest of 10 children growing up in Idaho.
Vankomen's older sister, Tina McDaniel, remembers him as a partner in crime who played practical jokes with her and "was there when you needed him."
The Vankomens had been married nine years, and Sgt. Vankomen had been in the Army for 13, first as an army mechanic, and more recently as a supply sergeant.
White remembers going to work with him and helping him fix Humvees. Despite his messy occupation, he was a fastidious man, the 12-year-old recalled.
"He was always very tidy," White said. "He would have the remotes in size order."
This was the first time Vankomen has deployed overseas; he left Sept. 30. He was trying to arrange leave to visit his family briefly after Christmas, they said.
"He was supposed to come home the 28th of this month, but he didn't, or he won't now," said White. "He sent me a glow-in-the-dark basketball. We always open one present before Christmas, and that's what I opened."
Also killed in the attack were Sgt. Maj. Robert D. O'Dell, 38, of the United States Army Intelligence & Security Command, Fort Belvoir, Va.; Sgt. 1st Class Paul D. Karpowich, 30, of the Army Reserve's 2nd Battalion, 390th Infantry Regiment, Webster, N.Y., Sgt. Lynn R. Poulin Sr., 47, of the Army National Guard's 133rd Engineer Battalion, Belfast, Maine; Spc. Thomas J. Dostie, 20, of the Army National Guard's 133rd Engineer Battalion, Portland, Maine; Spc. Cory M. Hewitt, 26, of the 705th Ordnance Company, Fort Polk, La.; Spc. Nicholas C. Mason, 20, of the Army National Guard's 276th Engineer Battalion, West Point, Va.; and Spc. David A. Ruhren, 20, of the Army National Guard's 276th Engineer Battalion, West Point, Va.
Jennifer Latson covers Thurston County and Tumwater for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5435 or [email protected].
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Fort Lewis Soldiers Remembered
- Staff Sgt. Darren D. Vankomen, 33
- Capt. William W. Jacobsen Jr., 31
- Staff Sgt. Julian S. Melo, 47
- Staff Sgt. Robert S. Johnson, 23
- Spc. Jonathan Castro, 21
- Pfc. Lionel Ayro, 22
