Manuel Lopez III
Army Spc Manuel Lopez III,
born in Haverstraw,
NY and resided
in Cape Coral, FL Unit: 3rd Battalion of the 7th
Infantry Regiment on April 12, 2005 Died in a RPG attack.
Manuel Lopez III
Rest In Peace
Cape Coral soldier killed in Iraq
Associated Press
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Cape Coral soldier serving in Iraq talked by phone with his
wife about shots for their 4-month-old daughter 16 hours before the Army
notified her of his death.
Spc. Manuel Lopez III, 20, was killed Tuesday when a rocket-propelled grenade
hit his Humvee while he was on street patrol in Baghdad, the Pentagon said
Thursday. He was serving with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd
Infantry Division, based out of Fort Stewart, Ga.
Lopez worked as a signal support systems specialist in communications, and his
primary assignment was repairing and maintaining communication systems, his
wife, Kira, told The News-Press of Fort Myers for Friday editions.
“He was supposed to be the guy behind the front lines keeping everything going,”
she said. “He was supposed to be well-protected. That’s why it hit me so hard.”
Kira Lopez got word of the attack from friends before receiving a call from the
Army asking to verify her address.
She said she felt her heart sink.
“I knew then something was wrong,” she said. “I just knew it. I kept checking
the window all day. I didn’t want to face it.”
A soldier arrived at her workplace later to deliver the news.
Kira Lopez said she and her husband were destined to be together from the moment
they met at age 3 in New York.
“We were even born in the same hospital,” Kira Lopez said. “Our fathers were
really good friends and we used to play together.”
They drifted apart in middle school but rekindled their friendship in high
school.
“All our lives we had the same goals of wanting to have a family and a home,”
Kira Lopez said. “Now I’ve lost my very best friend. I will never find that
again. Most people never get to experience what I got to with Manny, knowing
that you were soul mates.”
Manuel Lopez joined the Army in March 2003, got married Aug. 22, 2003, and left
for basic training that September. He left for Iraq in January.
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