Jessica Y. Sarandrea – Specialist, United States Army

U.S. Department of Defense

Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 150-09
March 06, 2009

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Specialist Jessica Y. Sarandrea, 22, of Miami, Florida, died March 3,2009, in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked her forward operating base with mortar fire. She was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

For more information media may contact the Fort Hood public affairs office at (254) 287-9993; after hours (254) 291-2591.


Army Specialist Jessica Y. Sarandrea, 22, of Miami, Florida

Specialist Sarandrea was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died March 3, 2009 in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked her forward operating base with mortar fire.

jysarandrea-photo-01

Specialist Jessica Y. Sarandrea and her husband met in Kuwait during a prior deployment. Alejandro “Alex” Sarandrea told the young woman she looked familiar.

She said she didn’t recognize him. But when the two met again, “We started talking. It turned out we were both from Miami, from almost the same region,” Sarandrea said.

“We ended up getting married out there,” he said.

Sarandrea, 22, of Miami, died March 3, 2009, in Mosul of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked her forward operating base with mortar fire. She was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas.

Sarandrea, who graduated from Coral Gables High School, was stationed in Mosul, where she worked as a Supply Specialist performing logistical support for her battalion, said her husband.

She was walking from her office, perhaps to get her gear, when she was hit by shrapnel from incoming mortar, her husband said.

The shrapnel pierced her liver and severed one of her main arteries, said Sarandrea.

“I know what a wonderful person she was,” Sarandrea said. “I will always carry her memory in my heart.”


Monday, 9 March 2009:

A 22-year-old U.S. Army soldier from Miami was killed in Iraq by mortar fire on March 3, 2009, according to the Department of Defense.

Specialist Jessica Y. Sarandrea was mortally wounded when insurgent forces attacked her forward operating base with mortar fire in Mosul.

jysarandrea-photo-02

An official statement from the U.S. government stated that Sarandrea was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Sarandrea, who graduated from Coral Gables High School, was stationed in Mosul, where she worked as a Supply Specialist performing logistical support for her battalion, said Alejandro ”Alex” Sarandrea, her husband. She was walking from her office, perhaps to get her gear, when she was hit by shrapnel from incoming mortar, her husband said.

The shrapnel pierced her liver and severed one of her main arteries, said Sarandrea, of West Miami, who is also 22.

”I know what a wonderful person she was,” Sarandrea said. “I will always carry her memory in my heart.”

Jessica Sarandrea enlisted in the Army about four years ago, and reenlisted to be with her husband, he said.

The two met in Kuwait during a prior deployment. Sarandrea told the young woman she looked familiar. She said she did not recognize him. But when the two met again, ”we started talking. It turned out we were both from Miami, from almost the same region,” Sarandrea said.

”We ended up getting married out there,” said Sarandrea, who trains soldiers how to defend themselves against biological and chemical attacks.

Josue Castillo, Stanton Trotter

Navy corpsman Josue Castillo carries the remains of his sister, Army Specialist Jessica Y. Sarandrea,
as Chaplain Major Stanton Trotter looks on during burial services at Arlington National Cemetery Monday, June 8, 2009

Josue Castillo

Navy corpsman Josue Castillo carries the remains of his sister, Army Specialist Jessica Y. Sarandrea
during burial services at Arlington National Cemetery Monday, June 8, 2009.

Xiomara Mansilla, Antonio Mansilla, Carlos Castillo

Relatives of Army Specialist Jessica Y. Sarandrea, seated left: mother Xiomara Mansilla, stepfather
Antonio Mansilla, and father Carlos Castillo, are pictured during her graveside burial service at
Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, June 8, 2009.

Xiomara Mansilla, Antonio Mansilla, Carlos Castillo

Relatives of Army Specialist Jessica Y. Sarandrea, from left: mother Xiomara Mansilla, stepfather Antonio Mansilla,
and father Carlos Castillo, are seated during her graveside burial service at Arlington National Cemetery Monday, June 8, 2009

jysarandrea-gravesite-photo-june-2009-001

jysarandrea-gravesite-photo-october-2009-001

SARANDREA, JESSICA Y

  • PFC   US ARMY
  • DATE OF BIRTH: 01/11/1987
  • DATE OF DEATH: 03/03/2009
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 60  SITE 8760
    ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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