Army Pfc. Michelangelo Mora, 19, Arroyo Grande; Killed as Vehicle Overturns

As an Army cavalry scout, Pfc. Michelangelo Mora wrote to his family that he felt proud helping the people of Iraq improve their country.

But the 19-year-old soldier from Arroyo Grande gradually became discouraged as his tour was extended and American troops increasingly came under attack -- by some of the very people Mora thought he was helping.

“He was real proud to be there, and he was real proud to be helping the people develop independence over there,” said the soldier’s father, Mike Mora. “He felt that way throughout the whole time, up until probably March or so.”

Mora, who had been in Iraq almost a year, was originally scheduled to come home in April, but his tour was extended, his father said. He was killed May 14 when his military vehicle overturned on a road in Najaf, according to military officials.

As of Friday, 790 U.S. servicemen and women had been killed in Iraq. Mora -- a member of the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Polk, La. -- is one of 98 soldiers with ties to California who have been killed.

Mora was born in East Los Angeles, but his family moved to Arroyo Grande, a coastal town north of Santa Barbara, when he was an infant. His father said the family was looking for a better life away from the big city.

“Michelangelo was one of those kids who didn’t have a shy bone in his body,” his father said. “He was the loud one, the one who wanted to be in the middle of everything. Everybody knows him here. Everybody who met him, he made sure nobody forgot him.”

An avid skateboarder and outgoing young man, Mora attended Arroyo Grande High School for two years, but as his grades declined, he looked for a way to get back on track, his family said.

Mora decided to enroll at Grizzly Youth Academy at Camp San Luis, a military-style high school program operated jointly by the California National Guard and San Luis Obispo County Office of Education.

Mora, a lanky kid, thrived in the structured program, attending classes between making his bunk, marching and performing physical fitness exercises with other boys and girls.

“I found him to be very bright,” said Capt. John Oberg, who operates the academy. “He had a lot of energy about him. He sort of had a light about him that just kind of made those around him like him and made the place a better place for everybody.”

Oberg and Mora’s family agree that the academy sent Mora in a positive direction. The teenager liked the military structure so much, they said, that he decided to join the Army after he completed the academy’s program in June 2002.

Mora completed basic training at Ft. Knox, Ky. He was deployed to Iraq in July.

In the last few weeks, Mora had told his parents that he was worn down by daily attacks on American troops. “By the end of April, he just wanted to come home,” his father said, adding that Mora had asked him to arrange for a family vacation in Cancun, Mexico. “He should have been home.”

Mora is also survived by his mother, Maria Mora; and a brother, Julian Andrew, 12.

A memorial service is planned for 10 a.m. Monday at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Arroyo Grande.