Sgt. who served at Huachuca dies in Iraq

"I love you very much, and your sisters," said the message from 1st Sgt. Bobby Mendez, a 38-year-old military intelligence analyst.

Those were among the last words from the father of three, who was killed in action in Baghdad last Thursday — his son's birthday — when his vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb.

Mendez, a former instructor at Fort Huachuca's military intelligence school, is the 17th service member with ties to Southern Arizona to die in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Five have been felled by improvised explosive devices, the top killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Mendez was in the middle of his second Iraq tour. He also had served in the Persian Gulf War.

Mendez taught at Fort Huachuca from 1997 until 2001. He left Arizona about five years ago, going first to a year-long stint in Korea, then on to Fort Hood, Texas.

He'd been with the 2nd Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood since January 2002.

With almost 19 years of service, Mendez was eligible to retire from the Army in about 18 months. He planned to move back to Sierra Vista after that to be near his kids, said his wife, Jennifer Mendez, 42.

She and the couple's children — they also have two daughters, Thyiena, 13 and Chyanne, 7 — have remained in Sierra Vista. Though separated, the couple were on good terms, she said.

When Mendez died, fellow soldiers in Iraq eulogized him as "a man of unparalleled character, realism and honesty," Jennifer Mendez said.

"He was the kind of soldier and the kind of leader that we all know we should have been," she quoted the soldiers' message as saying.

A memorial service will be held at Fort Huachuca's main chapel at 9 a.m. Monday, with cremation to follow.

Visitation is at Hatfield Funeral Home, at 830 S. Highway 92 in Sierra Vista, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m on Sunday.