by FELICIA FONSECA Associated Press
June 24, 2007
Los Lunas grad joined military soon after high school
ALBUQUERQUE — A New Mexico soldier, who was scheduled to return home just days after the birth of his son, has died in Iraq.
Army Cpl. Joel Dahl, 21, died during small arms fire Saturday near Baghdad, said his stepfather, Joe Aragon, who has raised Dahl since he was about 10. He was one of seven U.S. troops killed by roadside bombers. An eighth soldier died of a noncombat cause.
Aragon said doctors are planning to induce labor on Dahl’s wife, Alia, on Friday. Dahl was set to leave Iraq on July 2.
“She wanted to surprise him with his baby when he got here,” Aragon said.
The Dahls, who were married last September, already had picked out a name for their baby boy — Kayden Anthony — which they came up with by looking through a book of baby names.
Dahl also liked the name because it meant his son would have the same three initials as his wife, although not in the same order.
When the couple first met in church, Aragon said Alia couldn’t stand her husband. But he was determined, Aragon said, to get the girl he fell for. “When he finally got to talk to her, he charmed her over,” Aragon said.
Alia is having a “very hard time” coping with her husband’s death, and Aragon said the family is trying to keep her as calm as possible. “But given the circumstances, it’s hard,” he said.
Dahl graduated from Los Lunas High School, where he was a part of the school’s ROTC program, and joined the military soon after.
Aragon said Dahl planned to use that experience as a stepping stone into law enforcement.
“He was just the kind of person where he liked being in public service,” Aragon said. “He was a person that liked helping other people.”
Even when it came to boosting his stepfather’s dragon collection.
Dahl had called his wife the day before Fathers Day and asked her to find “something special” for Aragon and to keep in mind his admiration for dragons. “He had her running all over the place,” he said.
What she came up with, Aragon said, was a “beautiful little lamp” with a dragon painted on it. “I was all excited about it,” Aragon said.
He and his stepson talked a day or two later, and Aragon said he let Dahl know the only thing he didn’t like about the call was that it came at 2 o’clock in the morning.
In Iraq, it was noon.
“That was pretty much the last time I talked to him,” Aragon said.
June 24, 2007
Los Lunas grad joined military soon after high school
ALBUQUERQUE — A New Mexico soldier, who was scheduled to return home just days after the birth of his son, has died in Iraq.
Army Cpl. Joel Dahl, 21, died during small arms fire Saturday near Baghdad, said his stepfather, Joe Aragon, who has raised Dahl since he was about 10. He was one of seven U.S. troops killed by roadside bombers. An eighth soldier died of a noncombat cause.
Aragon said doctors are planning to induce labor on Dahl’s wife, Alia, on Friday. Dahl was set to leave Iraq on July 2.
“She wanted to surprise him with his baby when he got here,” Aragon said.
The Dahls, who were married last September, already had picked out a name for their baby boy — Kayden Anthony — which they came up with by looking through a book of baby names.
Dahl also liked the name because it meant his son would have the same three initials as his wife, although not in the same order.
When the couple first met in church, Aragon said Alia couldn’t stand her husband. But he was determined, Aragon said, to get the girl he fell for. “When he finally got to talk to her, he charmed her over,” Aragon said.
Alia is having a “very hard time” coping with her husband’s death, and Aragon said the family is trying to keep her as calm as possible. “But given the circumstances, it’s hard,” he said.
Dahl graduated from Los Lunas High School, where he was a part of the school’s ROTC program, and joined the military soon after.
Aragon said Dahl planned to use that experience as a stepping stone into law enforcement.
“He was just the kind of person where he liked being in public service,” Aragon said. “He was a person that liked helping other people.”
Even when it came to boosting his stepfather’s dragon collection.
Dahl had called his wife the day before Fathers Day and asked her to find “something special” for Aragon and to keep in mind his admiration for dragons. “He had her running all over the place,” he said.
What she came up with, Aragon said, was a “beautiful little lamp” with a dragon painted on it. “I was all excited about it,” Aragon said.
He and his stepson talked a day or two later, and Aragon said he let Dahl know the only thing he didn’t like about the call was that it came at 2 o’clock in the morning.
In Iraq, it was noon.
“That was pretty much the last time I talked to him,” Aragon said.
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