Julian Arechaga killed by improvised explosive device on 3rd tour

One by one, Sgt. Julian Arechaga's buddies, all dedicated Marines, were being called back for duty in Iraq, so the 23-year-old Baldwin native re-enlisted last month, starting his third tour in battle and second tour in war-torn Iraq.

His four-year career as a zealous military man who deeply loved his profession came to an end Sunday when an improvised explosive device struck his Humvee, killing him.

Military officials drove to his Baldwin home and broke the news to his family about 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

"He was very serious and very dedicated to his job," said Sheyla Randazzo, a sister who helped raise Arechaga in Baldwin. "He loved it."

Arechaga was at least the second Baldwin resident to fight and die in the war.

Spc. Wilfredo Urbina, 29, a firefighter, died Nov. 29, 2004, when a car bomb exploded near his Humvee in Baghdad.

"In March, it would have been over," Randazzo said. "He already did his two deployments and this was the third one. He was going to become a Suffolk County cop and he was going to go to college, you know."

Randazzo said that her brother, a former Oceanside High School wrestler, was promoted recently to sergeant and that he specialized in infantry as a member of the 1st Battalion, Sixth Marine Charlie Company, based in Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Randazzo said her brother's love for military life was clear: As soon as he graduated from Oceanside in the summer of 2002, he went to the U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office on Hempstead Turnpike in Hempstead.

He was off to boot camp that September.

"He went to boot camp and it was tough, but he liked it," Randazzo said. "He was very into it and happy and proud that he got through it."

His four-year career took him to Iraq twice and to Afghanistan.

His latest commitment was to be over in August, but he re-enlisted when his friends started getting called up, she said.

Randazzo said Arechaga was scheduled to be home again, this time permanently, by March.

Then, she said, he was going to apply to local colleges and try to fulfill the dream of becoming a Suffolk County police officer.

"He liked being in the military more than anything," Randazzo said.

From Newsday