By Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times
Robert Marzan was a bear of a man, round chested and with hands as big as catcher’s mitts.
But he was a gentle giant, said niece Irene Fernandez, who called Marzan “my loving and fun uncle, grandma’s baby, a devoted husband, protective and loving father, baby brother, cousin and best friend to many.”
Marzan, 54, a chief warrant officer 3 in the Army Reserve and a Sacramento native, became the first Californian to die in the U.S. war against Iran when he and five other soldiers were reported killed in a drone strike Sunday in Kuwait.
A veteran of more than 30 years in the military, Marzan, a Filipino American, was in the final two months of his deployment. His wife, Tina, said the family planned a celebration to mark both his 55th birthday and the end of his military service when he returned.
Marzan also left behind a daughter, Felicia, 30.
“You’re our Hero with a servant’s heart,” Fernandez wrote of her uncle on social media. “You lead with love and bravery, you gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country, an honorable soldier.”
Marzan was with the 103rd Sustainment Command, a supply unit headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, that was on its third deployment in the Middle East. He was stationed at a command center in the Port of Shuaiba, just south of Kuwait City, when the base was hit without warning by a retaliatory strike that made it through defenses the day after U.S. and Israel launched a thunderous air and missile attack on Iran.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the command center as a “tactical operation center that was fortified.” Others likened it to a triple-wide trailer, surrounded by concrete barriers with no protection overhead.
Older sister Elizabeth remember Marzan as a loving husband and father as well as “a strong leader who lived by example. My hero,” she wrote on social media.
Retired U.S. Army Col. Josef Sujet, the former chief of staff of Marzan’s unit, told CNN Marzan was a “pretty down-to-earth guy” but still “blunt and honest about what his thoughts were.”
A 1989 graduate of Elk Grove High, just south of Sacramento, Marzan was a career soldier who spent most of his adult live in Des Moines andbut had recently bought a house in Spotsylvania, Virginia.
Mark Madsen, a childhood friend of Marzan’s, told KCRA that Marzan grew up in south Sacramento and enlisted in his 20s.
“He would do anything for you, and family and friends meant the most to him,” he said. “He was an amazing husband, father, brother, nephew, uncle and friend. You always knew he cared deeply about the people in his life.”
Madsen told the station that even as Marzan traveled the world for the military, he remained deeply connected to his family.
“Robert loved Sacramento,” Madsen said. “South Sacramento, where he was from, Elk Grove High — (they) should be proud of him.”
Friends in Des Moines remembered Marzan to reporters as quiet but with a dry sense of humor and a personality that could “lighten you day.” He was also an outstanding leader, mentor and problem-solver, they said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the flags at the state Capitol near Marzan’s childhood home to be flown at half staff in his honor. The Army Reserve said that, out of respect for the family, it would not release any information about Marzan until the medical examiner completes positive identification.
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