An Easter card in the mail from a father who died after he sent it.

A fallen Marine who once told his mother that her prayers allowed him to become a Marine.

The image of a family praying the rosary at the family altar for the soul of a son who died for America before gaining U.S. citizenship.

These are just some of the mementos Catholic families have to remember their sons and daughters killed in Iraq.

To date, there have been at least 133 confirmed coalition deaths in the U.S.-led war with Iraq. To the families of the lost soldiers, however, they are far more than a number. Crystal and Gabriel Garibay lost a brother. Mark and Nicole Beaupre and Nancy Chamberlain lost their sons. Amanda Jordan lost her husband, and 6-year-old Tyler lost his father.

We take the opportunity of this Easter issue of the Register to remember some of those who died for the United States in Iraq.

Pope John Paul II once prayed for soldiers' souls in a prayer appropriate for Easter:

“I would like to raise my prayer to the Lord for your many colleagues who have died in these years during various missions of peace and in the defense of law and order. May their sacrifice not have been in vain! May their hidden and silent witness be an encouragement to everyone not to be resigned to injustice but to conquer evil with good! May God welcome them into his Kingdom of peace and grant serenity and comfort to their families and to all their loved ones.”

The Faithful Fallen

Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin: ‘It Was Like One of Your Prayers Had Jumped in my Eye’

Nancy Chamberlain lost her son, Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, in Kuwait in an accidental helicopter crash March 21.

Aubin was assigned to the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing based in Yuma, Ariz. Aubin was 36. He is survived by his wife, Rhonda, and two children, Alicia, 11, and Nathan, 8.

“We didn't have the money to send him to college, so Jay decided to enter the Marines right after high school,” his mother said. “There, he met his wife, and it was the beginning of his career.”

Although he had grown up Catholic and was an altar server, Chamberlain said her son had fallen away from the practice of his faith after high school.

“He married outside of the Church,” she said.

The power of prayer, however, brought him back.

After the military, Aubin put himself through college and then re-entered the Marines.

“He loved the military life and always wanted to fly,” Chamberlain said. “Yet he had failed a critical eye exam three or four times. That's when he asked for my prayers and all of our prayers.”

“When he eventually passed the eye exam it was a real turning point for him spiritually,” Chamberlain said. “He told me, ‘It was like one of your prayers had jumped in my eye that morning.’ The exam was critical for his becoming a pilot.”

After that, Jay and Rhonda had their marriage blessed, their children baptized, their daughter received first Communion and they enrolled the children in their local Catholic school. Aubin was also a member of the Knights of Columbus.

“The officer that accompanied Jay home told me that Jay had seen a posting for Mass and was able to receive Communion three days before he died,” Chamberlain said.

“Jay didn't tell us a lot about his achievements,” she recalled, “but since his death we've learned a lot more about him.”

Chamberlain said when the base held Marine Corps balls Jay would sign out a vehicle to bring his friends home.

“He wanted them to have a good time but didn't want them to get into trouble,” Chamberlain said.

One of Aubin's friends told her, “We have to be careful around Jay. If we told him we were going to do something on Saturday, he would be there to help us. He scrubbed floors with the rest of the troops.”

“Jay refused to have drinking parties,” Chamberlain added. “He was willing to go against the crowd.”

A memorial Mass for Aubin was held at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Winslow, Maine, followed by a funeral in San Diego on April 2.

Chamberlain said the thing she will miss most about her son is that “he was a colleague and shared my faith. He was my son, but he was also my friend,” she said.

Chamberlain has a photograph of her son that is precious to her. The photo shows Aubin's helicopter in Timor in front of a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with his arms open in invitation.

“To see my son's helicopter in front of that statue,” she said, “is just amazing.”

Marine Cpl. Jose Angel Garibay's Sister: ‘His Country Was Mexico; Also the U.S.’

U.S. Marine Cpl. Jose Angel Garibay, 21, fought and died for the United States despite the fact that he was not yet a U.S. citizen. Born in Los Tecomates, Jalisco, Mexico, his family moved to Costa Mesa, Calif., when he was still a baby.

Garibay played football and graduated from Newport Harbor High School. He enjoyed both American rock ‘n’ roll and Mexican ranchera music. In his last letter, which arrived March 11, he asked his mother, Simona, for a package of his favorite Mexican candies and a CD of popular ranchera singer Vicente Fernandez. He received neither.

A mortar man stationed at Camp Shoup with the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Garibay was one of several Marines killed in action near An Nasiriyah on March 23 when they were ambushed by Iraqis pretending to surrender. Simona and her other two children received the news from three uniformed Marine officials at 7 a.m. March 24. That evening the family gathered around a small altar in the living room of her modest ranch home to pray the rosary. Jose's picture sits atop the home altar surrounded by roses and four candles, beneath an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The family is planning a service at St. Joachim Catholic Church, where Garibay made his first Communion in 1994.

“He was just a Mexican,” said Urbano Garibay, Jose's uncle. “But he did something for this country, which is now my country, too.” “For him, his country was Mexico but also the United States,” said Crystal Garibay, Jose's sister. “He grew up here, and he said this country had given him everything.”

On April 2, the United States gave him one last thing. With the help of family and fellow Marines, Garibay became an American citizen. The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services posthumously honored Garibay with U.S. citizenship.

“[He] died fighting for this country,” Marine Maj. Brian Dolan told the Orange County Register, “so I certainly think it is warranted that [he] gain citizenship and is buried as an American citizen.”

— Tim Drake

Marine Capt. Ryan Beaupre's Father: ‘He Was Very Worried About Iraqi Civilians’

Mark and Nicole Beaupre lost one of their two sons, Marine Capt. Ryan Beaupre, on March 21, the second day of fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“He was an all-American boy,” Mark Beaupre told the Register.

After graduating from Illinois Wesleyan University, Ryan worked for State Farm Insurance for a year.

“He felt that there was more that he could do with his life and for his country. He has always wanted to fly,” Mark recalled.

So Ryan joined the Marines in 1995 and earned his pilot's wings in 1999. Beaupre was assigned to the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Ryan was to have been the best man at his younger brother's wedding in November.

Ryan was killed along with 11 other soldiers when his CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed in the Kuwaiti desert amid a fierce sandstorm. He was 30.

Ryan's faith, his father said, was very important to him. Ryan was baptized, received first Communion and was confirmed at the family's church, St. Anne's Catholic Church in St. Anne, Ill., where Mark serves on the parish council.

“Ryan attended church weekly,” Mark said. “He was very ecumenical. He had friends who were rabbis and Protestant ministers.”

“Whenever we would visit Ryan at Camp Pendleton, he would take us to an old mission church in San Bernardino that he attended with one of his friends,” Mark recalled.

Ryan's father painted a picture of a selfless son who loved his family. One of his sisters gave birth to twin girls on March 3.

“We sent a picture to Ryan right away,” Mark said. “The Marine who escorted Ryan's body back home said that Ryan had been going all around the base encampment showing everyone the picture of his new nieces.”

Since Ryan's deployment, his parents had received several letters, including three following Ryan's death.

“He was very worried about the Iraqi civilians,” Mark said, “because our weapons are so strong.”

“Ryan was an extremely joyful person,” said Father James Fanale, pastor at St. Anne's. “He was the kind of kid that when he came home, he would visit every single relative and friend. People loved to see him. He was just a kind of ray of light, a ray of sunshine.”

His parents had not spoken with Ryan via telephone prior to his death.

“He would always let the guys with wives and children use the telephone first,” Mark said.

The majority of the small town's 1,300 residents attended the April 3 funeral. The parish's Sodality of St. Anne held a potluck luncheon and the Knights of Columbus purchased chicken. The parish has six members serving in the Gulf.

“He was their son, too,” said Mark, choking back tears. “I'm going to miss his smile.”

— Tim Drake

Staff Sgt. Phillip Jordan: ‘What Will I Tell My Son?’

Amanda Jordan lost her husband of nine years on March 23.

Marine Staff Sgt. Phillip Jordan had fought in Operation Desert Storm, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Jordan, a member of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, perished in Iraq when he was ambushed by soldiers pretending to surrender. He was 42. He is survived by his wife, Amanda, and their 6- year-old son, Tyler.

“They're saying he was killed in action,” Amanda Jordan told ABC News, “but for me, it's really murder.”

Originally from Houston, Phillip Jordan joined the Marines 15 years ago as a private and worked his way through the ranks to become a gunnery sergeant. Just prior to being shipped out, he had been promoted to staff sergeant.

Amanda met Phillip while he was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Phillip moonlighted as a bouncer, and Amanda used to flirt with him so he would let her into the club. The couple moved to Enfield, Conn., before he deployed so Amanda could be closer to her family.

The couple had just celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary on March 19.

“He always remembered our anniversaries — flowers and everything,” Amanda said. Phillip called his wife on March 13 to wish her a happy anniversary because he knew that he would be in combat on the 19th.

A funeral was held at Holy Family Catholic Church in Enfield on April 2.

Amanda said she had received an Easter card in the mail. She knows that an anniversary card is also on the way.

“I want to get the mail,” she said, “but I don't want to get the mail.”

She said that Tyler and his father were the best of friends. Since learning of his father's death, Tyler has been wearing his favorite green and brown camouflage shirt.

Amanda said she was still trying to decide what to tell Tyler when the last letter arrives.

“What am I going to tell my son?” she asked. “That the letter came from heaven?”

— Tim Drake