Ming Sun killed in ambush

A Fort Carson soldier died in a firefight in Iraq, the Defense Department announced Thursday.

Pfc. Ming Sun, 20, from Cathedral City, Calif., was a Chinese immigrant who dropped out of college last year to join the infantry with aspirations of becoming a general, his father, Hong-Yuan Sun, said in a telephone interview.

The soldier was killed Tuesday on patrol with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in Ramadi, the scene of fighting in recent weeks, when his unit was ambushed by insurgents with machine guns. President Bush on Wednesday announced his plan to send 4,000 additional service members to the region around Ramadi to quell violence, which he attributed to al-Qaida.

Ming Sun came to America with his family when he was 8 years old and grew fascinated with the Army that defended his adopted home. He graduated from high school in 2004 and started college classes, but he wanted something more, the elder Sun said.

“He really loved the Army, and he really wanted to fight for this country,” he said.

The young man enlisted in early 2006 to be a rifleman so he could be guaranteed a trip to Iraq to battle on the front lines. He came to Fort Carson in August and was here two months before being deployed.

His father said Sun got a letter of commendation for quick thinking in a Ramadi firefight when the private responded to an ambush by taking cover and blasting enemy positions with rifle fire.

Hong-Yuan Sun said he talked on the telephone with his son last week, and he said the younger Sun was happy in Iraq and was planning to re-enlist when his three-year term of duty expired.

“He wanted to be a general,” Sun said.

Ming Sun was also elated by his unit’s capture of what he described as an al-Qaida operative suspected in the beheading of civilians in Ramadi. “He was so happy to tell me of this victory,” the father said.

Ming Sun was devoted to his family and hoped to renew bonds with relatives in China upon his return from war.

“He wanted to go to China with his 30-day leave,” his father said.

Now the Sun family is working to bring relatives in China to Southern California for the funeral.

Sun is survived by his parents and a sister.

He is the 77th 2nd Brigade soldier killed in Iraq, including nine who have died since the unit returned to war in October.

Since the war began in 2003, 182 Fort Carson soldiers have died, including 56 killed by small-arms fire.

From the Gazette