Liz Beth Robles
Army Spc. Liz Beth Robles,
31, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico Unit: 360th Transportation Company, 68th Corps
Support Battalion, 43rd Area Support Group, Fort Carson, Colo. on March 1, 2005
Died from injuries suffered in a vehicle accident Monday in Bayji, Iraq
Liz Beth Robles
Rest In Peace
SPC Lizbeth
Robles (1974-March 1, 2005) born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, was the first female
soldier born in Puerto Rico to die in the War on Terrorism.
Robles was born into a close knit family in the small town of Vega Baja. There
she received her primary and secondary education. She was well liked by many and
after graduating from high school led the life of a normal fun loving girl of
her age.
The events that occurred on and after September 11, 2001, changed her life
forever. Robles like so many others joined the Armed Forces of the United
States. She joined the U.S. Army and received her basic training in Fort Hood
where she was assigned to the 46th Chemical Company. Later, she was sent to Fort
Bragg, North Carolina and assigned to the 659th Maintenance Co. Robles was sent
to South Korea where she was assigned to the welcome center at Camp Casey. She
also served in Uzbekistan before being assigned to Fort Carson in Colorado.
Robles, who enjoyed driving tankers and trucks was assigned to the 360th
Transportation Company, 68th Corps Support Battalion. There she lived with her
husband Stokey Smith. She volunteered to be part of a new group with the 43rd
Area Support Group that rides in convoys and secures the dangerous roadways so
that the Fort Carson trucks in Iraq can deliver fuel.
She received her deployment orders, but before she left for Iraq, Robles went to
Puerto Rico where she spent the Thanksgiving of 2004 with her friends and
family. After that last Thanksgiving with her family, she went to Iraq where she
reported to her company.
On March 1, 2005, SPC Lizbeth Robles and Sgt. Julio Negron were riding in a
Humvee by the town of Bayji, when they had an accident and the vehicle flipped
over. They were rushed to the 228th Command Support Hospital in Tikrit where
both of them later died of the injuries sustained from the accident.
Lizbeth Robles remains arrived in Puerto Rico on March 6, 2005. She was buried
with full military honors in the National Cemetery located in Bayamon, Puerto
Rico. Her name along with the others who have perished in Afghanistan and Iraq,
will be engraved in "El Monumento de la Recordacion" (Monument of Remembrance),
dedicated to Puerto Rico's fallen soldiers and situated in front of the Capitol
Building in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
courtesy of Tony Santiago
Administrator and
writer of Puerto Rican related articles in Wikipedia.
Rocky Mountain News -- The family of
a Fort Carson soldier killed in Iraq this week described their loved one as
hard- working, smart, conscientious and dedicated to the Army.
Spc. Lizbeth Robles, 31, had her roots in Puerto Rico, and turned her love for
the United States into a career in the Army.
Robles was fatally injured in a vehicle accident Monday in Bayji, Iraq. Robles
died the next day at a combat support hospital in Tikrit.
She was a member of Fort Carson's 360th Transportation Company, a fuel provider
that deployed to Iraq in December.
In Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, Robles' parents and aunt saw a lot of pride and
dedication in their "Lizzie."
"Lizbeth liked the Army, driving the tankers and trucks. She wanted to remain in
the armed forces," her father, Santiago Diaz, told a reporter from El Nuevo Dia
in the family's home.
"She wanted to study and to learn and to defend the nation. She had made her
decision, and she liked it," he said.
Robles and her husband had lived in Colorado Springs for the past year. She had
served in South Korea, Uzbekistan and at various U.S. posts before coming to
Fort Carson.
Her aunt, Delia Diaz, had expressed worry over her serving in the military.
"I advised her much, but she told me, 'Don't worry, there's danger everywhere.
If something's going to happen to me, it could just as easily happen in Puerto
Rico. This is what I like, and this is the work I want to do,' " Diaz told El
Nuevo Dia.
Her family had the chance to see her when she came home during the week of
Thanksgiving, just before her company deployed to Iraq.
"She said goodbye to the family. It was so sweet, she shared with us all," Delia
Diaz said.
Another aunt, Judith Robles, remembered "an exemplary child."
"She was very studious. Everything she set her mind to, she would do. Every time
she set a goal I felt proud," she said. "I continue to be proud of her even
though she is no longer with us."
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