Marine Corps Lance Cpl. William J. Wiscowiche, 20; Killed in Bombing
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. William J. Wiscowiche returned from his first tour of duty in Iraq in October, married his high school sweetheart and met his daughter, who was born while he was away.
But duty called and the 20-year-old soldier returned, dutifully albeit reluctantly, for a second time in February.
“He didn’t want to go back. But he told his mother he accepted it,” said his father, Joseph Wiscowiche, 69, who served in Vietnam as a Marine. “He’s a Marine and he has to obey orders. He was going to do what he had to do, so he could go home.”
Wiscowiche was killed Tuesday in Iraq’s Al Anbar province when his vehicle was struck by a roadside explosive.
The former high school athlete had an exuberant personality, said Leland Eudy, football coach at Victor Valley High School in Victorville, where Wiscowiche played running back and strong safety. “He was a very funny guy,” Eudy said. “But he was probably a little more mature than other kids in his approach to life, in what he wanted to do.”
Wiscowiche enjoyed dancing and customizing his Honda Civic, friends and family members said. “He liked break-dancing. He was practicing a lot of new types of dances I don’t even know,” his father said with a chuckle.
Joseph Wiscowiche said his son had dreams of becoming a Marine since he was a boy. “I’d tell him, ‘It’s rough and tough, and there’s real good times and there’s real bad times,’ ” his father said. “He wanted to follow in my footsteps, as crazy as I was.”
He said he counseled his son about a Marine’s life and how often it would take him away from the woman he loved.
But determined and undaunted, Wiscowiche enlisted in the Marines in August 2001. He was first deployed to Iraq in January 2003 as part of the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. He participated in the attacks that led to Saddam Hussein’s downfall.
While abroad, he kept up with his family and friends through e-mail, recounting near-misses and lounging in Hussein’s palace. He also told them about the poverty most Iraqis endured.
But through it all, he kept his humor, said best friend Aaron Savedra, 19, a football team mate. “Willie would try to make the best of even the worst situations, make it seem like everything was fine,” Savedra said.
When Wiscowiche returned after eight months, he saw his now 7-month-old daughter, Arrianna, for the first time. And he married girlfriend Veronica Vargas, 19, on Jan. 7.
He was noticeably more reflective, although he tried to act nonchalant, his father said. “He would act like there was nothing to it: ‘I just kicked butt like a Marine,’ ” Joseph Wiscowiche said.
One month after his marriage, Wiscowiche was deployed again to Iraq. “He knew he would go back to a different kind of war,” said his mother, Patricia Wiscowiche, 49.
“He said, ‘I don’t want to go back again. Let’s just get this over with, so I can start my life again,’ ” Savedra said.
In addition to his wife, daughter and parents, Wiscowiche is survived by three half sisters and two half brothers. He will be buried with full military honors Saturday at Desert View Memorial Park in Victorville.
