Juan Solorio was born on November 23, 1972, in Dallas, Texas. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Washington. According to military.com, he was killed on March 4, 2005, in Mosul, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle as his unit was being attacked by enemy forces. Solorio served as a sniper instructor before he deployed to Iraq in October 2004.
He was 32. According to the Associated Press, Solorio was the 144th Texan to die in Iraq since March 2003.
Prior to enlisting, Solorio graduated from a Dallas Magnet high school with an emphasis in health care professions, but he enlisted in the Army in 1993 and never looked back. Solorio decided to make the military his career. His duty assignments included Fort Hood, Texas; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and Fort Lewis, Washington. His career included deployments to Japan, Thailand, Haiti, Egypt and Iraq.
An avid outdoorsman, Solorio spent his off-duty time camping, hiking and rock climbing. He also was a scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 62 and Cub Scout Pack 461, so he could spend quality time with his sons, 11-year-old Julian and 8-year-old Maximilian. In a statement to the Associated Press in 2005, his wife Gabby described him “as an extraordinary son, husband and soldier. He died with his boots on, and we would have it no other way.” Solorio and his wife would have celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary on March 18.
Solorio was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart posthumously. He also earned the Combat Infantryman Badge, Air Assault Badge, and Jump Master Badge.
Army Staff Sgt. Juan Solorio was laid to rest at Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery. To post a tribute or comment in his honor, please visit his Veterans Legacy Memorial page.
Carry The Load Memorial May National Relay
For the sixth consecutive year, VA joins forces with volunteers to march in honor of Veterans and service members during the Memorial May National Relay starting on April 27. The annual collaboration with VA’s National Cemetery Administration includes rallies at 38 national cemeteries during a 20,000-mile march along five separate routes covering 48 states. All five routes converge on Memorial Day weekend for a final rally in Dallas, Texas. The list of national cemeteries, along with the dates and times that they will be visited by Carry The Load marchers, can be found here.
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Thank you, Army Staff Sgt. Juan Solorio, for your service to our country. You made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom, and we will never forget your bravery and sacrifice. Your family and friends are in our thoughts and prayers.
With a feeling of deep lost, Juan Solorio; so sorry for your loss and a great loss to us all who served in theater, though not in his immediate area, I heard about him many times in 2005 and many times since, first by a Soldier I believe at the moment he heard it on closed radio, he walked over to let me hear the alert attack, we were at an LSA, Faub,. The news shook: a loss. “No” …we didn’t want to believe it.
My Location: I was just coming to conscious after experiencing a Rocket climbing high in our area, I don’t know how long I was out afterwards? A fellow Soldier came running into our area, calling out my name; found me covered by a mound of flying sand (I was trying to get away from a rocket that I actually saw-just about reach its peak, above us high up in the sky. It was as though God’s Holy Spirit slowed the air space, spoke to my mind saying my name, to look up; again He said, look up, with an urgency, I did) cushion the impact of the blast, over me after a rocket landed by some structures and the powerful explosion knocking me unconscious at our location.
Announcements had been out in formation which did not last long in this duty structured atmosphere; that attacks were up over 100% in the area since the last tour left the area, safety was first, I was returning to my area to continue duties from the Med VAC tents to help check on Soldiers who were scheduled for evacuation state side for safe care and attention, then in the zone,
SSG Juan Solorio was the first Soldier that I remember hearing about being attacked also; it seemed after our encounter, I came to conscious from a Rocket attack on our Faub. Over these years when ever I read the follow up news. (he will not be forgotten). The alert released on the attack and location, his name then has not left me, with every reading; I am ushered back and reminded,, again shouting “incoming-incoming!” to those I served with. Doing what I learned; waving like gas, gas signals trying to direct all our Comrades to an area bunker; I hoped would save them all, yet; knowing, it had no more room for me; yet, I tried filling it up as much as I could yell “get in!”, to the unaware. Trying to put my voice above the sirens, the noise: I did what I could; then I ran in the sand from the impending blast: of an incoming Rocket attack, knowing I could not get far at all on foot, but, I still tried. I prayed that the ones I helped squeeze into that barricade back there were safe. I would now only have to find a safety position for one more; myself, from the explosion coming, I could fill it, I was a little nervous to look up, and wondered why I was not completely off the hinges. Well, I’m remembering even the younger Soldiers who would of stood outside the barricades had I not look into their face and shouted “get in,”…how closely now,,, was this bomb in-coming? Oh God is all I could think is run.
All my gear on my back (though I was not with SSG Solorio, miles away; but, groups of us were told, all the attacks are one in the same: a plan to get as many of us Soldier as possible out of Iraq…since our President: Chief of our Military and his Team, had done so well to quench the Firey Darts. In fact, that day, the civilian contractors who served were putting up and replacing the outer wall that protected the Faub, with even a higher wall-barricade. We protected the Iraqis who worked on the Faub. They also could run into the bunker for safety. This is not about me, this is about SSG Juan Solorio, I don’t mean to tell what happened to me. But God Bless our brother Juan in Christ, his family, for his Service.
Again, it comes to mind to say; I’m sorry for our service personnel loss; we are, thankful for his service, and all our wonderful Soldiers. His printed story stays to mind. His picture shown on VA web sites stays with us. SSG Solorio, was the first attack another Soldier and I stopped, stood still to recognize what we just heard, and mediate over the words having been told to us by military radius.
I ran to find cover; when the Rocket fire blew, I was out in the open, trying to get around the side of a Conex container and hold there; instead, found myself covered by the gear I carried, and the sand won over. The MP who helped me up, said; “everyone in the bunker were safe, no losses their”.
Every time SSG Juan Solorio is mentioned on our web sites, I can only say from all of us: thank you again Sergent, for your service.