Army Spc. Bobby J. Pagan

Remember Our Heroes

Army Spc. Bobby J. Pagan, 23, of Austin, Texas

Spc. Pagan was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; died Feb. 13, 2010 of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device in Zhari province, Afghanistan. Also killed were Staff Sgt. John A. Reiners and Sgt. Jeremiah T. Wittman.

A former Anderson High school student, who joined the Army in 2008, has been killed in Afghanistan.

Bobby Pagan was born and raised in East Austin, and leaves behind a family of eight.

The Pagan family said 23-year-old Bobby was a man eager to help out, and one who brought joy into the lives of others. He had hoped to return home from his tour in Afghanistan with his new fiancée Diana Soriano in two weeks. They met while in the Army, and finding the time to see each other wasn't easy.

"He actually proposed to me through a letter and then later on after I told him 'Yes' over the phone, he said he wanted to do it in person," Soriano said.

"It's just so sad. I get angry, you know. But there isn't anything I can do about it," said Peggy Pagan. Her son, Specialist Bobby Pagan, 23, was killed in action over the weekend in Afghanistan. His family says he was on foot patrol, when a suicide bomber drove up on a motorcycle and exploded an IED, killing Pagan.

His fiancee was also deployed to Afghanistan. She was the first to get the news. "I just broke down. I was screaming, because I didn't want to believe it," said Soriano. Soriano had to make the journey to meet his family for the first time, alone.

"He was supposed to be traveling with me, so I just, I was just alone for too long. When I finally seen them, I mean they are the only thing that I have that's a part of him," Soriano said.

According to Soriano, Pagan was promoted to Army specialist right before he died and was scheduled to return home to Texas this summer.

"He was so excited when he got his CIB, Combat Infantry Badge, he was proud to have earned it, and I thought he definitely deserved it," Soriano said.

Pagan's family of three brothers and four sisters said he was always full of laughter and the practical joker in the bunch. Which is why, his mother Peggy Pagan said, when they first heard the terrible news, no one could believe it was true.

"Everybody pretty much was thinking that it was a joke, and I told them 'No, it's not a joke, it's true.' And of course everybody is hoping that maybe who's in that casket isn't him. They told me 'No, we verified it,'" Pagan said.

Now faced with the reality of a loss no family should have to endure, the Pagans are trying to remember their son as they say they knew him, loving, strong and full of joy.

Bobby Pagan's older brother Robert is serving in the Army as well, and was scheduled to join the family Wednesday from Fort Hood.

Robert Pagan said he has learned a lot about his little brother in the days since his death. "He did want to follow in my footsteps- that's what I've been hearing these past couple of days and that he was proud of me," said Robert. "I never got to see him in uniform and tell him that I was proud of him."

Pagan's fiancée will soon return to Afghanistan to serve another three months of deployment. She wrote that the rest of her time overseas would be dedicated to his memory.

"He wanted to get married and have kids when we got home, we had it all planned out, three boys and two girls. We had names and everything," Soriano wrote.

His older brother Robert escorted his remains home. In July, Robert will be deployed to Afghanistan.

Survived by his beloved mother, Peggy A. Pagan; four sisters, Jodie Treviño (Richard Treviño, Jr.), Paula Flores (Keith Dienhart, III), Angela Pagan (Robert Leal), Anastasia Pagan; three brothers, Robert Pagan, Jr. (Alison), Christopher Pagan, Miguel Pagan; his fiancée, Diana Soriano; Richard Treviño; his father, Robert Pagan; paternal grandmother, Angela Pagan; and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Army Spc. Bobby J. Pagan was killed in action on 2/13/10.