I’m sure that overwhelmingly, the men and women who have died in Iraq have been outstanding individuals. This certainly seems to be the case with this young woman, who is the first female graduate of the military academy to die in Iraq.
West Point Mourns a Font Of Energy, Laid to Rest by War – washingtonpost.com
Perez was born into a military family in Heidelberg, Germany, and moved to Fort Washington in 1998. A woman repeatedly described as focused, tenacious and passionate, she was an avid reader from a young age and eventually finished near the top of her class at Oxon Hill High School. From early on, she wanted to be a soldier, her friends recalled, and she became wing commander of Junior ROTC at Oxon Hill.
"She was the cream of the crop," said Nathaniel Laney, Perez’s high school track coach and now assistant principal at Oxon Hill. "This wasn’t some average Joe."
Her nickname was Kobe, family friend E. Faith Bell said, because everyone knew she could make the shots, in whatever she did.
While in high school, working with the District’s Peace Baptist Church, Perez helped begin an HIV-AIDS ministry after family members contracted the virus.
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