2008 Woodie Awards
Alumnus killed by roadside bomb in Iraq
Jorge Medina
Issue date: 5/12/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
| |
|
Michael Price, 33, died April 29 when a roadside bomb destroyed his vehicle in Bajl, an Iraqi city 20 miles north of Tekrete.
The former Citrus College student was always a risk-taker.
As a teenager he climbed onto a Stater Brothers' roof just so he could repel down the side of the building. As an adult he hunted wild boar with only a spear. In fact, Michael Price's entire life revolved around excitement and thrills.
Vernon Price described his son as an adventurer. So it was no surprise that when the opportunity came up for his son to go to Iraq, he took that chance. He went to work for the Florida-based company Cochise Consultancy Inc., one of many private firms providing security for contractors whose job it is to destroy the munitions caches of the deposed Saddam Hussein.
When Price left for Iraq in January, Vernon Price said he felt strongly that his son's decision was going to change his family's life forever.
In the last e-mail he would send to his son, he made Michael an offer that he felt would be too good to refuse.
"I offered him $100,000 to come home," Vernon Price said. "I would have done anything to keep him out of Iraq."
His son's return e-mail read:
"You must understand that it's not just the money that drives me here. ... I know and understand your concern; if I were in your shoes, I would feel the same way. I am sorry to put you through this stress, and you know it is not my intention to worry you. I just can't help who and what I am, and as crazy as it may sound to some, there is no other place in the world I'd rather be at this moment. I will be home soon. I don't know when, but I promise I will be there. I love you."
"He wasn't going to accept anything," Vernon Price said. "This decision showed how much pride my son had."
Michael Price's promise to return was shattered when he died of injuries sustained when his convoy mistook a buried bomb for a sand dune with a mound- Iraq sandstorms routinely create sand dunes. The bomb was presumably detonated by remote control.
His son's tragic end has shaken Vernon Price's trust.
"Under the circumstances, my son's death is hard because we were given misinformation," Price said. "His death was not expected."
Vernon Price said he was told that his son was injured, but he was not informed that his injuries were severe.
"I found out he had an unbelievable injury," Price said. "He had lost a third of his brain on the right side. If he had lived, he would have been an invalid for the rest of his life."
Price said that his son had told family members that if he were to suffer injuries that would prevent him from ever doing his job or being on his feet, he would accept death instead.
"He had told his best friend that if anything happened to him that would have prevented him from coming back whole, he did not want to come back," Price said.
That best friend was Mark Peters, who always supported Michael Price in all his adventures, including deep-sea scuba diving and rock climbing.
Once, Peters said, Michael Price swam across the San Francisco Bay, despite the dangers of a tide that can sweep swimmers into the ocean. But while Peters had his doubts about the undertaking, he said he would never have stood in the way of his friend's pursuit of thrills.
As friends they stood by each other. That is why he supported Michael's decision to go to Iraq, even though he did not agree with it.
"It was what he wanted to do," Peters said. "Throughout our friendship we were the kind of people that were determined to do what we wanted to do. It is rare that I tried to dissuade him from anything. I trusted his judgment in what he wanted to do with his life."
Peters said he understood how important it was for Michael to go to Iraq. It was more than an adventure. It was going to give him the chance to make enough money to start raising his 11-year-old daughter when he returned home.
"One of the main reasons he went there was to strengthen his involvement in his daughter's life," Peters said. "They pay pretty well over there. The second reason he went was because he always has been an adventurer."
Peters grew up with Michael Price in Dallas. Both of their families moved to Southern California during their first year of high school. They both lived in Concord, Calif.
"I've never met anyone like him in my life. He was a unique individual. He was a professional in everything he did," Peters said. "He strove to do the best that he could in life."
In 1988 after he graduated from San Dimas High School, Michael Price joined the Navy, where he saved several sailors during a fire aboard the USS Midway. He later enrolled at Citrus College, where he took emergency medical technician classes. He continued his schooling in the Azusa Pacific University nursing program. His aspiration was to become an emergency room nurse.
"He was a protector for people that couldn't do that themselves. He was in EMT, search and rescue and a Navy corpsman," Peters said. "He looked to help people with every job he applied for."
Before leaving for Iraq, Michael Price was a weapons instructor for HALO Group Inc. in Concord, Calif., for two years. The private company trains law enforcement officers and others in shooting and defensive tactics.
Vernon Price described Michael as a gifted person and model son.
"I never had to reprimand him for anything. He had a lot of rope because he was a good kid. He was unbelievably obedient," he said.
"Every time he took a test, he finished number one. He excelled at everything he attempted. He took a test at Pomona Valley Hospital and came out with the top score, but they said he was too young to work there."
Michael was a kind-hearted, nice guy, his father said.
"He always was smiling. I never heard him say anything bad about anyone. He always had something good to say about people," he said.
"That is a unique characteristic," he added. "I'm totally the opposite. I look for the bad in people."
Joyce Bakersmith, Michael's stepmother throughout his childhood, said he treated her like a real mom, something that is unusual in blended families.
"Even if I was assertive with him, I never felt that Michael didn't like me," Bakersmith said. "He always made me feel appreciated."
Price said he will try to remember his son through photographs.
"Things don't always happen for the best," Price said. "Sometimes they happen for the worse. When I go back and try to learn more about Michael's life, I will look at old photographs and better establish the chronological order of his life."
Price is survived by his daughter Amanda, father Vernon Price, stepmother Joyce Bakersmith, mother Alice Smith, stepfather Ron Smith and brother Keith Price.