Steven Acosta

Calexico, California

October 26, 2003

By AARON CLAVERIE, Staff Writer
Monday, October 27, 2003 2:37 PM PST

BA'QUBAH, Iraq — A 19-year-old soldier from Calexico, Army Pfc. Steven Acosta, died Sunday in Ba'qubah, a city northeast of Baghdad.

Acosta, a 2002 Calexico High School graduate, died from a "non-hostile" gunshot wound, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

A "non-hostile wound" refers to any wound not directly attributed to combat or terrorist action, a Department of Defense official said.

The incident is under investigation.

Acosta, the son of Calexico residents Rafael and Regina Acosta, was assigned to C Co., 3rd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas.

According to a press release that appeared in this newspaper in July, Acosta was a graduate of the Army's unit supply specialist advanced individual training course at Fort Lee in Petersburg, Va.

He was trained to receive, inspect, segregate, store, inventory, issue, deliver and turn in organizational and installation supplies and equipment; maintain automated supply systems for accountability with use of unit computers; issue and receipt of small arms and secure and control weapons and ammunition supplies, the release states

Steven Acosta enlisted in the Army before his older brother had a chance to talk to him about becoming a Marine.

‘‘We used to make fun of each other,'' Gerardo said from his parents' home in Calexico. ‘‘I used to tell him how Marines were better. We used play around like that.''

On Monday, Gov. Gray Davis expressed his condolences and honored Acosta as ‘‘a courageous American soldier.''

‘‘But as we grieve his passing, we find solace in the knowledge that he died for the noblest of causes — fighting for his country,'' he said in a statement. ‘‘As Californians, and as Americans, we are eternally grateful for his sacrifice.''

"I just wish I could see him again, and just be with him like we used to be before," said Steven Acosta's bother, Gerardo. Steven Acosta, a supply clerk from Calexico, Calif., died Oct. 26 from a gunshot wound in a nonhostile incident in Baqubah, Iraq. He was stationed at Fort Hood.