Two Filipino-American soldiers were killed in two separate attacks in Iraq, with one of the victims becoming the first female Fil-Am fatality since the military operation in Iraq started in March 2003.

The Defense Department identified them as Army Sergeant Myla L. Maravillosa, 24, of Hawaii; and New Jersey-born Army Specialist Peter J. Navarro, 20, of Missouri.

Sgt. Maravillosa

Maravillosa, a Philippine-born U.S. Army reservist from Wahiawa, Hawaii, died of injuries sustained when Iraqi rebels fired rocket-propelled grenades at the Humvee she was driving in Al Hawija, Iraq on Dec. 24, according to the Defense Department.

She had been in Iraq for only a month, her family said.

A 1999 graduate of Leilehua High School, Maravillosa was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 203rd Military Intelligence Battalion out of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

She joined the Army Reserve after graduating from high school, said her mother, Estelita Maravillosa, 62, who is a native of Inabanga, Bohol.

Having moved to Hawaii in 1997 from the Philippines, she wanted to serve her adopted country, her mother said.

Estelita, whose husband died of a heart attack in 1997, said she just froze at the sight of uniformed officers approaching her Wahiawa apartment on Christmas Eve with word that her only daughter died in combat that day.

“She is my only child; she is my only daughter,” said Estelita in an interview with Hawaii press. “This is a bad Christmas.”

“She had only been there (in Iraq) for a month,” she said of her daughter, who never had a chance to unwrap the macadamia nuts and homemade cookies her mother mailed her a week before she was killed.

Estelita said her daughter had dreams of working for a U.S. Embassy in foreign relations or as an immigration officer. She said her daughter had planned to attend Hawaii Pacific University this year but was sent to Iraq on Nov. 20. She previously attended Leeward Community College, her mother said.

Estelita says it’s a country paying a high price in this war. “My daughter is the victim. I hope President (George W.) Bush will remember that one and realize how many American soldiers are being killed,” she said.

“I want her to be remembered forever,” she said through tears. “She was a very respectful daughter — very quiet. She was very polite.”

When she was home, she volunteered at the Daughters of Saint Paul religious bookstore and was a devout Catholic who worshiped at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in downtown Honolulu, where her family held the first of two funeral services for her.

Her mother accompanied her body back to Uog Village in the town of Inabanga in Bohol, Philippines for a formal funeral and burial near her maternal grandfather, Agapito Lumayag.

Spc. Navarro

Navarro, born in Lakehurst, N.J., was among four soldiers killed on Dec. 13 in an attack in Taji, Iraq, about 12 miles northwest of Baghdad, and which has been the site of frequent attacks against U.S. forces.

He and a group of soldiers were conducting combat operations when an improvised explosive device detonated near their Humvee, the Department of Defense said.

The soldiers were assigned to the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor, 3rd Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Riley, Kansas.

Navarro’s father, Jose Navarro, a retired chief petty officer for the Navy, described his son as a strong-willed young man and dedicated soldier.

“He cared for the soldiers he worked with. He would do anything for his friends,” Jose said. “And he told me he believed in what the mission was.”

Two military officials came to the Navarro home on Dec. 13 to break the news.

“When I saw them I just lost it,” said Navarro’s mother, Rowena.

Jose said the military men told the family that Navarro’s mission was to patrol as they prepared Baghdad for the elections. He usually drove a tank, but he was in a Humvee when he was killed.

Navarro’s younger brother, Daniel Navarro, 18, died in a motor vehicle accident in Washington state on July 5. Navarro came home to Wildwood, Missouri on a two-week leave from the military to attend the funeral.

“I wanted him to stay,” Rowena said. “I told all my kids I didn’t want them to be in the military.”

But Navarro told his mother he had to go back.

“Mom, they would be a man short,” he told her. “They need me there.”

Jose said he and his wife have lost two sons in less than six months. Their third, surviving son is a freshman at Lafayette High School.

“We’re doing...not too good,” Jose told reporters. Then, he added quietly, “We’ll be okay, though.”

In 2002, after the elder Navarro’s retirement, the family settled in Wildwood. The next year, Navarro graduated from Lafayette High School, where he was a member of the Air Force Jr. ROTC program. He joined the Army immediately after high school and had been serving in Iraq since January 2005. He was scheduled to be there for one year and return home in January 2006.

On Dec. 16, the Army presented to Navarro’s parents three medals for their son: the Good Conduct Medal, the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

The commendations only confirmed what the couple already knew — that their son died a hero.

Navarro was laid to rest among a sea of white tombstones at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

There have been 2,373 coalition deaths — 2,174 Americans, one Australian, 98 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, two Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 26 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, one Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of Dec. 27, 2005, according to a CNN count.

At least 16,155 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon.