Edward Reynolds, on 2nd tour of duty, killed in Iraq

Christina Verdejo just moved into a new home she would be sharing with her fiancee when he returned from Iraq in November. She was planning to photograph every room as it looked filled with the couple’s belongings, and e-mail them to Edward Charles Reynolds, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army.

“The house was empty when he saw it, but I never got the chance to take the pictures to send him because that’s when I found out what happened to him,” Verdejo said.

Reynolds, 27, who went by the nickname “Jay,” was killed Tuesday in Iraq when a bridge collapsed while his convoy was crossing. Reynolds’ vehicle rolled into a river, trapping him inside. He was rescued, but died en route to a hospital.

Verdejo said she is relying on family, friends and her faith to get through this difficult time. She also continues to post messages on his MySpace site, even though she knows he will never read them now.

“He always said I was his angel, I guess now he’s my angel,” Verdejo said.

He loved football and fishing, she said, but more than anything else he loved family.

“He was a very, very sweet; very, very caring person,” Verdejo said in a telephone interview.

Verdejo and Reynolds were planning to be married in Killeen on New Year’s Eve. “He had three children (from previous relationships) and I have two kids, and he took care of all five like they were all his own,” Verdejo said. “When we were together it was 100 percent about family.”

Verdejo said Reynolds had been in active duty since graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1997 and that he was on his second tour of duty in Iraq at the time of the accident. The tour that began last December was scheduled to end in November.

Reynolds had a love for the game of football, both playing it and watching it, she said.

He also loved to fish, Verdejo said, and when the couple made their last visit to Port Arthur in August he took her to Pleasure Island, a favorite fishing spot.

“We saw other people there fishing and catching crabs and he was mad that he didn’t bring his fishing pole,” Verdejo said.

Verdejo said when Reynolds was deployed, she worried all the time at first.

“Really, I guess I never completely stopped worrying, but he was always very positive. He always told me that everything was going to be fine,” she said.

Then during the summer, Verdejo had some medical problems and it was Reynolds’ turn to worry.

“When I got sick, he was worried about me and wanted to come home,” Verdejo said.

When Verdejo’s medical problems were resolved, she said Reynolds was on top of the world.

“He said look at things now; we don’t have to worry anymore. He said that God had blessed us and that he had never felt happier or more fulfilled,” Verdejo said.

Services for Reynolds are scheduled for Oct. 7 through Gabriel Funeral Home in Port Arthur.

From the Orange Leader