Vincent A. Madero, 22

Army, Specialist

Based: Ft. Hood, Texas

2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: October 17, 2007

Balad, Iraq

Married

Gender: Male

Hometown: Port Hueneme

High School: Frontier High School (Camarillo)

Burial: Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio

Madero signed on to MySpace.com every day, knowing friends and family would check the date of his last log-in to see if he was alive. He last signed on hours before his death. Weeks later, his sister still checked it hoping the Army had made a mistake.

Wayne M. Geiger, 10/18/2007

Frank L. Cady III, 10/10/2007

Four memories of Vincent A. Madero

“

Vinny, I had no idea you passed until now and it brings me to tears. We never met in person but we wrote eachother often while you were just starting out in the army. We met before you ever joined online and at one point we had even discussed me moving out to California so we could be together. Vinny I remember when you had enlisted and that you would be leaving soon, you said you needed my address so that we could continue to keep in contact. We used to write letters very often and I still have them all. In one letter you wrote me that you hoped and wished I would be your partner during this time of loneliness and discomfort. You wrote a beautiful letter and you signed it, "I love you, PVT Vincent Madero" I loved you too Vinny I used to get so excited to receive your letters and I'm so grateful to have known you. At some point or another we lost touch I'm not sure I remember why... but the next time we spoke you were married and you were happy. Which made me very happy for you, we reconnected on MySpace and we shared a few nice emails catching up. You told me you had 're enlisted in another 6 years in the army and I wished you well. After that I never heard from you again. About 6 months ago I found your letters while going through things at my house and I read them all again. The emotions I felt back then rushed back to me and I just felt I had to speak to you even just to say hello and know that you were doing well. I searched on Facebook and never found you but I kept looking. I finally found someone with your same name and he didn't really look like you but he was from California like you were so I thought wjat could it hurt to ask... he just today informed me that he was not the man I was searching for but he does know that my friend Vinny was a fallen hero and died while serving our country. I am in shock, I'm holding your letters in my hand now and looking back. I'm reading of all your emotions you felt during your time first starting out in the army and you knew that death was a possibility but you wanted to fight for this country. You were an amazing man Vinny and you will always hold a piece of my heart. Thank you for everything. I just wish we could have gotten that chance to meet face to face so I could have told you how special you were to me. I love you PVT Vincent madero rest peacefully. Love Lindsay

” — Lindsay ayers, January 28, 2015 at 2:17 p.m.

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Sources: Times research, Defense Department, iCasualties.org

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Vincent A. Madero, 22

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Four memories of Vincent A. Madero