Naperville mourns Marine, soldier killed overseas

Naperville is in mourning this weekend as two families with ties to the city grapple with the deaths of a Marine serving in Afghanistan and a soldier stationed in Iraq.

Mayor George Pradel ordered the city's flags lowered to half-staff and more than 100 people gathered Friday for an emotional prayer vigil to honor both men at the foot of the Millennium Carillon.

Marine Lance Cpl. Tony Mihalo, 23, a 2004 graduate of Naperville North High School, was killed this week in Afghanistan.

Mihalo, who played football at North, was a "warrior's warrior," his father, Bill Wolfe of Naperville, said.

Army Cpl. James M. Hale, 23, who attended Naperville Central and also played football, was killed Wednesday in Baghdad, Iraq.

Hale, based at Fort Bliss, Texas, was on his second tour of duty in Iraq. He was assigned to the 978th Military Police Company, 93rd Military Police Battalion and was killed when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb, officials said.

Hale, who posthumously was awarded the Purple Heart, is survived by his wife, Jessica; two sons, ages 4 and 3; and a 5-week-old daughter.

A warrior's warrior

Mihalo had completed two tours of duty in Iraq before accepting a third tour earlier this year in Afghanistan, Wolfe said. He was injured during his first tour in Iraq and was wounded in July of this year in Afghanistan.

In the second incident, his squad was patrolling an alley when they took machine gun fire from somewhere above, his fiance, Megan Allen, said. Mihalo told his squad to continue on while he returned for one man who had been injured. As he helped carry the man back, Mihalo was hit by shrapnel from an explosive device, she said.

Mihalo was awarded three Purple Hearts for his service in Iraq. his father said. Allen said he also received a Purple Heart for the Afghanistan injury, something that should have sent him to Germany for recovery.

But he refused additional medical services after his initial treatment and was sent back to his squad.

"He didn't want to walk on an airplane when his buddies were on stretchers," Allen said.

Government officials from the U.S. Department of Defense have not officially verified Mihalo's death and it remains unclear what took the Marine's life.

Wolfe said his son joined the Marines after - and in part due to - the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

"He was really a true warrior," Wolfe said Friday morning. "There are a lot of soldiers out there, but only a small percentage of them are warriors. He was one of them."

Mihalo's fiancee, a graduate of Naperville Central, had just gotten a job offer and was excited to tell her in-laws-to-be about the news when she got the call to go to the family's home. She arrived, less than an hour after getting her first job, to find five Marines delivering news of Mihalo's death.

Described as a lover of the History Channel and professional wrestling, Mihalo returned home after his second tour of Iraq in 2006 and expected to stay stateside, Wolfe said. But he later agreed to serve in Afghanistan after the Marines asked for combat veterans to lead units there.

This latest tour for Mihalo - which was to be his last before discharge - initially was slated to end in October. On that schedule, he would have shipped out of Afghanistan on Friday.

But Wolfe said he recently learned his son's tour was extended to November.

The family is still awaiting more information from the Marines before planning burial arrangements, but expects the funeral to take place next week.

Pradel said Mihalo was a "true Marine." He said he was honored to have spent time with Mihalo upon his visit to Naperville last year.

"He was so humble and matter of fact," Pradel said. "He wanted to go back because his buddies were there. He said 'When you're fighting you become a family because you're watching their back in the heat of battle.'"

Wolfe said after his son's fourth injury it was always in the back of his mind that - despite Mihalo's expected return home - the danger level seemed to be increasing.

"I thought 'He's dicing with death. You can't keep rolling the dice'" Wolfe said.

The family also was focused heavily on helping make his transition back to civilian life easier, because it was clear from Mihalo's last visit that his stress level was rising.

"We watched him grow from a youth to a man. He was just a wonderful son, a great person and a lot of fun," Wolfe said. "The family is moving in and out of shock at the news, but he made his decisions on what he wanted to do. He wanted to be the first on the ground and be the tip of the spear for the Marines. That's what he was able to do."

In fact, as a child, Mihalo would dress in his father's old Army fatigues for Halloween. He always had his eye on a career in the military.

"From his freshman year on he was talking to recruiters (at school)," his aunt, Sue Pollard said.

'He's got your back'

Two weeks before his first daughter was born, James Hale boarded a plane back to Iraq.

His wife, Jessica, the high school sweetheart he met during his one and only year at Franklin Heights High School in Columbus, Ohio, pleaded with his commander to let him stay a little longer for the birth of their third child.

It was just a little while longer, she reasoned.

Instead, Jessica recalled Friday, Hale's commander promised he would bring her husband back safely so he could see his new daughter for himself.

Those are tough memories, now, because Hale never held the 5-week-old baby in his arms. Photos "just aren't the same," Jessica said.

Hale played football at Naperville Central, a school he attended for three years before moving with his family to Ohio. That's where he met Jessica - and shared his plans either to play college football or go into the military.

In the end, his grades made the decision for him and he willingly signed up for the Army, she said, not knowing how long he'd stay.

When his time for re-enlistment came up, this past June, though, Hale told his wife he wanted to stay in the service. He really enjoyed it.

"He really wanted to make it a career," she said.

He signed up for another six years.

Despite his military exterior, Hale was remarkably gentle and generous, Jessica said.

"He was a hero and I don't mean in a fighting hero way, I mean as a person," she said. "He was the kindest person you ever met. (People) would appreciate that he's a great father and husband, and he's a man of God. When he says he's gonna do something, it happens."

Hale also made sure to watch out for his fellow soldiers and Jessica said he volunteered for the mission on which he was killed.

"He's got your back. Oh, he's got your back even if it means breaking his own," she said.

They'd spoken only hours before he was killed. They'd had a fight. And not a small one. Not one to let matters simmer, Hale called to apologize.

"He was sorry and he loved me," she said. "Those were his last words to me: 'I love you.'"

Now she agonizes, if they'd talked a little longer - would he have fallen asleep rather than volunteer for that mission?

"I'm thinking if I'm on the phone, he might still be here," she said.

So now she offers words of wisdom to others.

"When you love somebody and care about them," she said, "you always remind them of that."