On July 6, 2007, Army Pfc. Bruce Salazar Jr., died when was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) that detonated near Muhammad Sath, Iraq. Salazar moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 2003 when he followed his best friend Ronnie Jacques from Davis, California, to Northwest Arkansas.

Salazar’s father, Bruce Salazar Sr., lives in Springdale, and the younger Salazar worked in Springdale while completing his general equivalency degree. The 24 year-old joined the Army in 2005 and was deployed in May. He planned on being a career solider, according to his mother and his friend. After the war, Salazar planned on helping his mother, Suzie Ruiz of Modesto, California, buy a house, and he looked forward to moving to Florida.  His mother remembered him as a good kid who was always there when she needed him. He was an avid baseball fan and wanted to be a fighter pilot.

A few weeks before his death, Salazar spoke to his mom about family and friends and asked for a baseball glove to play catch. Ms. Ruiz mailed the glove and a book on becoming a pilot. Pfc. Salazar was an infantryman with the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Georgia. He is survived by his mother, Suzy; father, Bruce; sister, Alicia Salazar; and four half-sisters in Southern California.