Victor M. Fontanilla dies of 'of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle'

STOCKTON - Family members were surprised when Victor M. Fontanilla announced almost two years ago that he had decided to join the Army.

Then again, the move by the strong-willed, independent father and husband seemed to fit his personality.

"He was a self-supporting kid," said his aunt Lysia Espinosa, who raised Fontanilla at her Stockton home. "He wouldn't ask for anything."

Fontanilla, 23, and two other paratroopers were killed Thursday when a roadside bomb detonated near their vehicle in the central Iraq town of Iskandariya, about 25 miles from Baghdad, the Department of Defense announced Monday.

He was more than seven months into his first tour in Iraq, said Espinosa, 41, and just weeks away from coming home for a short leave to see his wife of two years, Noel, give birth to their second son.

Fontanilla and the other soldiers were assigned to the 725th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division in Fort Richardson, Alaska. Fontanilla was a motor transport operator for the unit.

A fourth paratrooper was seriously injured in the blast and was being treated at a combat hospital in Iraq, according to a news release from Fort Richardson.

Fontanilla's two MySpace pages show his two most recent passions - the military and his family. One page features tongue-in-cheek comments with pictures of him and Army buddies. Another dedicates the space to pictures of his young family and playtime with his son, Kila.

Fontanilla was born at San Joaquin General Hospital, his aunt said, and grew up in Stockton with his younger brother and two younger sisters. His parents live in Saipan, a tiny, U.S.-controlled island in the Pacific Ocean.

He left Stockton to live with his mother and finish high school on the nearby island of Tinian, a few miles from Saipan, Espinosa said.

He returned to Stockton when he was 18 and enrolled part time at San Joaquin Delta College while working at a fast-food restaurant.

He signed up for the Army to help support his growing family, Espinosa said. "To me, he's like a hero," she said.

Fontanilla's brother, 16-year-old Lee Castro, described his brother as a bright, multitalented young man who could play several musical instruments by ear and easily assemble electronics or build contraptions.

He taught Castro to play piano when they were younger. He enjoyed drawing anime-style cartoons.

Fontanilla was independent enough to succeed at most things he tried, his brother said.

"You could put him in a jungle and he could survive on his own," he said.

From the Stockton Record