Lolita HarperThe war in Iraq hit home...

Lolita Harper

The war in Iraq hit home Saturday as another local man was killed

during his military service, family and friends said.

News of the death of 22-year-old Trevor Win’e, originally of Costa

Mesa, left his grief-stricken mother, Deborah Win’e, too choked up to

talk.

“It is just very, very fresh right now,” she said.

The branch of the armed forces in which Win’e served was not

available, as the family did not comment and Department of Defense

officials had not released names of the most recent fatalities.

Susan Brown, a family friend and former neighbor, said Win’e was

in the Army, stationed in Mosul.

“I thought he was safer there,” she said.

Unidentified fatalities reported by the defense department

Saturday included an Army soldier killed Saturday morning when a

roadside bomb exploded near a convey just south of Quaray -- a city

just 45 miles north of Mosul.

Members of the Win’e family gathered Saturday afternoon in their

charming home in Old Towne Orange, where they have recently moved.

Stuck in a planter that sat on the front porch of the Cleveland

Street home was a sign that read, “Pray for our President and our

troops.” A yellow ribbon was tied to a post. Family members declined

comment.

Trevor Win’e graduated from Calvary Chapel High School in 2001,

where he played inline roller hockey. Mesa Verde neighbors on

Mandarin Drive where the family lived remembered him as friendly,

handsome and very, very polite.

Mahea Hookano, 16, who lived right across the street from Win’e

before he left for the military, was charged with caring for the

family’s boxer dog, Betty.

“I always took care of her when they were away and took her to the

beach and she always wanted to go out,” Mahea said. “Trevor and Betty

were really close buddies and I thought that was cool that he wanted

me to watch her after he left.”

Mahea said Trevor Win’e was “very welcoming” and always made

people feel at ease. He had a genuine tone to his voice and you could

tell that he was sincere. He was not unlike the rest of his family

members -- notably sister Tracy and brother Todd -- who would drop by

the Hookano house on holidays.

“As neighbors they just welcomed us, right off the bat,” Mahea

said. “They didn’t have a bad bone in their body.”

A few blocks over, in another Mesa Verde neighborhood the Win’e

family called home at one time, news of the soldier’s untimely death

spread quickly -- catching the close-knit residents off guard.

Brown, whose oldest daughter was good friends with Trevor Win’e,

said he came to say goodbye to her daughter before he was deployed.

Brown said she had just had lunch with Deborah Win’e last week and

that the military mother was worried but upbeat.

“He was just a really nice man and I am sure his parents are

overcome with grief,” Brown said. “We will keep them in our prayers.”

Dale Deatley, whose family bought the Mindanao Drive house that

Rick Win’e, Trevor’s father, built into a two-story home, described

the family as “just the nicest people.”

“It is just so tragic that their son is gone,” she said.

Win’e is the second Costa Mesa man to be killed in the war in

Iraq. On March 23, 2003, a 21-year-old Marine corporal, Jose Garibay,

was killed near Nasiriyah, Iraq, after encountering an ambush of

enemy troops.

The outpouring of community support for the fallen Marine was

palatable, as mourners gathered on the front lawn of Simona Garibay’s

Westside home to honor her son’s service and pay their respects.

Following Garibay’s death, the Marine received United States

citizenship, which he had always wanted, and a scholarship was set up

in his name. His mother also created a Spanish-speaking community

organization for Moms of Marines.

Of all the thousands of soldiers who are fighting in Iraq, it

seemed so unlikely that tragedy would strike this close, Brown said.

“He was just such a great kid, and we are obviously proud of him,

but we are devastated,” Brown said. “I just wish it didn’t hit so

close to home.”

No information on services for Trevor Win’e have been released.

* LOLITA HARPER is the Forum editor. She also writes columns

Wednesdays and Fridays. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or by

e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes. com.