Navajo family mourns death of Fort Carson
soldier

Associated Press

SHIPROCK, N.M. — Cpl. Lyle Cambridge’s family was preparing a birthday party for the soldier’s youngest son when a vehicle bearing a government license plate pulled up and a uniformed soldier got out.“That’s when it hit me. My heart just went,” said Joe Cambridge Sr., Lyle’s father.The 23-year-old Navajo soldier was killed Tuesday in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near the vehicle he was riding in. Also killed in the attack was Staff Sgt. Scottie L. Bright, 36, of Montgomery, Ala.They were both assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment based at Fort Carson, Colo.At least 59 soldiers from Fort Carson have died in Iraq. Another 68 soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which will move to the base when its current tour in Iraq is over, have died there.Cambridge, who graduated from Aztec High School in 2000, joined the Army in May 2002. He leaves behind his wife, Evonne, and two young sons, 3-year-old Wyatt and 1-year-old Nick.Joe Cambridge Sr. is a veteran of Desert Storm and one of his other sons also serves in the military.“I’m really proud of my kids, but what happened here, I don’t like,” he told The Daily Times of Farmington on Wednesday evening. “Why are we fighting this war? It’s not ours.”He said once Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was removed from power, American soldiers should have been withdrawn from the country.Cambridge’s family gathered Wednesday to celebrate the soldier’s life in a traditional Navajo way.His sister, 25-year-old Shauna Dee, said she will remember her brother as a generous man who loved to make people happy. She recalled him buying her an Easter dress each year for many years and said she will always remember the way he would try to make people smile or laugh.Following a prayer, Joe Cambridge Sr. stood in the front of the room, flanked by a picture of his son in uniform set on a Navajo blanket. He spoke in Navajo to a crowd of more than 150 family, friends and community members.Shirley Enoah, a member of Blue Star Mothers of Farmington, translated his words. She said Cambridge described how his son had joined the Army to follow in the footsteps of his father and his brother Vernon, a 12-year Army veteran.During his speech, Joe Cambridge was overcome with emotion. When he began speaking again, he told the crowd he thought he could handle the loss of his son, but it was hard.While he spoke, the soldier’s wife fainted. She was taken to Shiprock Hospital.Karen Stevens, founder of the Blue Star Mothers of Farmington, said the group supported Lyle Cambridge’s parents after finding out about his death.“That’s the neat thing about Blue Star Mothers — we become a family. It’s like one of our own sons (has) fallen,” she said. “They’re all hard, but this one hits a little closer to home. All I wanted to do all day was to have my son home and hug his neck.”Navajo spokesman George Hardeen said the loss of a soldier is always hard news to receive.He said residents of the Navajo Nation — which spans parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah — hold ceremonies each week and offer prayers both in traditional ways and in churches across the reservation in honor of their soldiers.“We have our servicemen always and foremost in our prayers,” Hardeen said. “This is the hardest news to receive but we know it’s part of war.”