Marine Cpl. Stewart S. Trejo

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Cpl. Stewart S. Trejo, 25, of Whitefish, Mont.

Cpl. Trejo was assigned to the 1st Maintenance Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Aug. 7, 2008 while supporting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq. Also killed was Cpl. Adam T. McKiski.

Whitefish man dies in Iraq
The Associated Press

WHITEFISH, Mont. — A Whitefish man who died in Iraq suffered fatal injuries in a vehicle accident while supporting combat operations, the Marine Corps said Tuesday.

Cpl. Stewart S. Trejo, 25, died Thursday after being injured in Anbar province, the military said. Also killed in the accident was Cpl. Adam McKiski, 21, of Cherry Valley, Ill.

Trejo enlisted in the Marine Corps on Nov. 2, 2005. McKiski enlisted a year earlier. They were artillery systems technicians in a unit based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Arizona Daily Star -- Just weeks before his tour of duty in Iraq was to end, a Marine with Tucson ties has died.

Cpl. Stewart S. Trejo, 25, died Aug. 7, one of two Marines killed in a vehicle accident.

Trejo was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and throughout his childhood he traveled with his family between Southern Arizona, California and Mexico. Trejo's parents, several siblings and his grandmother live in Tucson.

Trejo, a father of two who most recently called Whitefish, Mont., home, enlisted in the Marine Corps in November 2005 and was finishing his first tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed, said his sister, Sherry Valenzuela of Tucson.

Trejo, who arrived in Iraq in February, was scheduled to return to Camp Pendleton in California next month.

He was one of two Marines killed in a vehicle accident while supporting combat operations in Anbar province, the Defense Department reported. The other casualty was Cpl. Adam T. McKiski, 21, of Cherry Valley, Ill.

Trejo and McKiski were artillery systems technicians assigned to the 1st Maintenance Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

The Marines were traveling in a Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle when their truck overturned into a ditch, Valenzuela said. Her brother was knocked unconscious and drowned before he could be rescued.

"He was the finest boy you ever could meet," said his grandmother, Connie Stewart of Tucson.

Her husband, Johnny S. Stewart, was an Army paratrooper who took part in the Normandy invasion in 1944 during World War II.

"He was one of the lucky ones," Connie Stewart said. "He came back."

It was his grandfather's military service that inspired Trejo to enlist in the Marines, she said.

"Stewart always wanted to make his grandpa proud of him," she said.

Trejo began high school in Nogales, Ariz., then moved to Montana, where he graduated. After high school, Trejo met his future wife while working at a Whitefish lumber company, Valenzuela said. But the work, his sister said, didn't fulfill him.

"He didn't feel that was his calling," she said. "He wanted to join the Marines, because our grandfather was in the Army and he wanted to be in the military, too."

Growing up, Trejo enjoyed working on cars, assembling model robots and playing the guitar and drums, his sister said.

"He was very bright," Valenzuela said. "He became corporal in a matter of a year. He worked very hard for that position.

"He was very funny, he loved life, and he was proud of what he did in Iraq. He was proud to be a Marine."

Trejo's honors include the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

Survivors also include his wife, Taffie; and their two children, 3-year-old Nathaniel and year-old Roary. A funeral service is planned for Thursday in San Diego, to be immediately followed by interment with military honors at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

Marine Cpl. Stewart S. Trejo was killed in action on 8/7/08.