| From Kim Buhite-Howery 01/28/07:
Alex was born in Okinawa, Japan on February 12, 1971 and died in Baghdad, Iraq on May 29,2006.
Alex was my friend. We grew up living next door to eachother in Anaheim, CA. Alex was born in Okinawa in 1971 and moved to Anaheim when he was two. He and his folks moved to Katy, TX in 1983, but we stayed in touch throughout the years. He was married to his wife Jennifer 6 years. They had 2 daughters, Katy age 5 and Allison age 2.
Growing up Alex would gather the neighborhood kids---4 boys and 1 girl (ME) and "Play Army"---I was the "nurse" (my mom was a nurse and had bandages, slings etc. that I could use). I would always be the one to "patch them up and send them back out" to "fight"---wish I could have done that one last time, so he'd be here to be back with his family.
He also had a HUGE trainset set up in his garage and would have "train shows" in his garage for the neighborhood kids.
I kept in touch with Alex via email/snail mail/IM during his last deployment. I was recovering from foot surgery right after he deployed. I had IM'd him that I was laid up and that it hampered my "care package making" ability. He told me---don't worry about me, just get better! He had taken the stuff out of the care packages I sent and shared it with his men. He was always concerned with their morale above his own. That's just the kind of guy he was---caring for others above himself.
I talked to his wife shortly after his death and she told me that Alex had asked her to send a doll to the daughter of his Iraqi interpreter (who was killed in the same explosion as Alex). His interpreter's daughter was the age of Alex's own daughters.
I also have other links to news reports of his death as well as links to interviews with his wife and father. There are also pictures from his funeral on the PGR website.
Thank you so much for creating the website. One of the things Alex's wife told me is that Alex and his fallen
comrades-in-arms aren't just numbers--they are real people with families and friends that loved them and miss them.
One of the things that I will always remember about Alex is his smile---he was ALWAYS smiling--when I look through pictures of Alex I see his smile and I can't help but smile too. |
