Danny R. Soto dies 'of wounds suffered when the vehicle he was in struck an improvised explosive device'

Stationed in a country at war, Sgt. Danny R. Soto nevertheless wanted some candy, he told his mother. And Marina Horsford obliged, sending as recently as Saturday a package full of sweets to her 24-year-old son.

Later that day, she would learn that he been killed in action in Rashidiyah, Iraq.

And she also would find out that the candy she had shipped was meant for the Iraqi children, a gesture relatives said was common for the Houston soldier.

"He was a guy who was always thinking about other people, not about him," his sister, Marci Soto, said Wednesday.

Soto and Spc. Zachary A. Grass, 22, of Beach City, Ohio, were killed Saturday when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device, according to a statement from the Department of Defense.

Recent photos the soldier sent home told of his giving.

"He had sent me pictures last week of him where he was passing candy to a lot of little kids there in Iraq," Marci Soto said. She said when her brother later talked to their mother, he told her, 'Send me a lot of candy, Mom.' "

"I told my mom he was giving the candy to all those kids. It wasn't even for him," she said.

Soto was born in Honduras and moved to Texas with his family when he was 11. The family lived in southwest Houston, where the young man dreamed of being a soldier.

After high school graduation, he worked two jobs in Houston to support his wife and young son, and his plans for a military career were put on hold.

Marci Soto said the desire to join the Army was strong, and he enlisted three years ago.

"He always used to say, 'I want to be where the action is. The Army is always the action.' That was his dream," she said.

Soto said her family learned about his death late Saturday night.

Her mother was in the garage when she heard a noise and saw men outside her home.

Soto said her mother came into the house saying the men were there to tell them her son was dead.

She told her daughters about the soldiers outside. Marci and her sister, Joanna, then went out and saw them approaching the house.

"We asked them, 'Are you coming to tell us that our brother is dead?' And they said yes. 'Your Danny died.' And they told us how," she said.

Soto is survived by his wife, Vanessa, and their son, Jonathan Raymond Soto, 4, his mother, Marina Horsford, and sisters Marci and Joanna Soto.

From the Houston Chronicle