User:RightCowLeftCoast/Angelo Zawaydeh

Private First Class Angelo A. Zawaydeh was a Greek orthodox Jordanian American who died in Baghdad, Iraq on March 15, 2006, at the age of 19. He is one of two people from San Mateo County who have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Biography
Born to April Bradreau and Akram Zawaydeh, he was a native of San Francisco, and lived in San Bruno. Shortly after the September 11th attacks he had made a pact with three of his friends to join the military, however his parents were against it. In high school he was known for being a skateboarding enthusiast. In 2004, he graduated from Terra Nova High School, and against his parents wishes he later enlisted.

In September 2005, he was sent to Iraq with the rest of his unit. On the day of his death, having beein in Iraq for only four months, he was manning a machine gun atop a tank at a traffic checkpoint. There he was struck down by hostile fire, a mortar shell struck his neck and embedded itself into his body and failed to detonate.

He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his service, a service was held at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in San Francisco, and was interned at Greek Orthodox Memorial Park in Colma, California. He is survived by his mother and father (a veteran of a Middle Eastern conflict), two younger sisters, and a younger brother. His uncle is a member of the Jordanian Parliament. As of March 2007, his grave does not have a tombstone.

While on tour at the San Mateo County Fair in 2006 Charles Daniels spoke positively of the late PFC Zawaydeh. His service was later commemorated during Project America Run near Sterling, Colorado.