Fernando S. Tamayo killed in combat operations

Growing up in Fontana, Fernando S. Tamayo never had an enemy but had many friends.

Now, his family and friends are mourning his loss.

Tamayo, a 19-year-old Marine Corps lance corporal, was one of three Marines and a sailor to die Thursday while conducting combat operations in Iraq's Al Anbar Province, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

"It is very tragic for his family," said Marine 1st Sgt. Bill Toves, a family spokesman. "He was well loved. He never had an enemy growing up."

Tamayo, the youngest in his family, was a driver of a Humvee that was hit by a roadside bomb, Toves said.

He was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, or I MEF, based in Twentynine Palms.

One of Tamayo's brothers was to be married in Mexico the day he died. Another brother is a former Marine, Toves said.

When Toves went to notify the family, he said, neighbors told him Tamayo's parents were in Mexico for the wedding. Toves contacted the embassy in Mexico, which sent a colonel to the brother's home there, but Tamayo's parents already were on their way back to Fontana.

At 1:30 a.m. Friday, Toves finally made contact with the family, he said.

"The mom is taking it terrible, and rightfully so," Toves said. "The dad, you can tell he is the foundation of that family."

Funeral services have yet to be arranged, Toves said.

When contacted at their home in Fontana, the family declined to be interviewed.

From the Press Enterprise