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SOUTH OGDEN -- Another family is mourning the loss of their loved one, killed in the line of duty while in Afghanistan. U.S. Army Cpl. Raphael Arruda, from South Ogden, died Saturday, when his vehicle hit an improvised device.
He's the third soldier from Utah to die in Afghanistan this month.
Raphael Arruda, 21, a combat engineer, was patrolling the Kandahar Province, when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. He died from blunt force trauma.
It's always something that's put in your mind the minute you sign up. There's a really good chance something might happen to you.
–Andrey Arruda
Raphael was always a good role model for his little brother. When he enlisted in the Army, Andrey, 19, soon followed in his footsteps.
"It's always something that's put in your mind the minute you sign up," Andrey said. "There's a really good chance something might happen to you."
That's the grim reality of military life.
Andrey Arruda is also enlisted as a specialist and combat medic and is awaiting his deployment. He said he got a call from a church leader asking him to come home and when he pulled up to the house he saw two soldiers waiting at the door.
"I already knew what happened and didn't have to hear anything," Andrey Arruda said. "It's kind of hard to explain how you feel. A big hole just opens right up. It can't really be filled."
Just two days prior, the brothers had chatted on Facebook, making plans for Arruda's homecoming in two to three months. Arruda had plans of attending the University of Utah to study engineering.
"He was the life of the party wherever he went. If there was a bad mood in the room, he'd always say a joke -- he always had the right joke for the right time and cheered everybody up." Andrey Arruda
"He said the missions he does is just always the same thing, so I was never worried about it -- he always made it back fine," Andrey said.
Arruda deployed last fall. It was his first tour of duty since he enlisted in 2008. He was last home in February for a two-week leave. When he returned to Afghanistan, he made sure there were no sad goodbyes.
"He was the life of the party wherever he went. If there was a bad mood in the room, he'd always say a joke -- he always had the right joke for the right time and cheered everybody up," Andrey said.
Andrey said his brother loved his job, even though it was a dangerous one.
Andrey said that if he deploys, he hopes to keep families from having to bear a loss like his.
"I try to go there to help people and if they do get harmed, I want to make sure they get back ok to their families," Andrey said.
He said his brother hated sad moments and if he were here, he'd be telling his family to go have some fun. That's what the family plans to do on July 23rd, at a party in Arruda's honor. That would have been his 22nd birthday.
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Written by Sandra Yi with contributions from Benjamin Wood.
