By Arianne Aryanpur
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 18, 2006

One was a father and husband, the other a college student just shy of graduation.

They never met, but yesterday they were honored under the same cloudless sky as heroes who died fighting for their country.

Army 1st Sgt. Carlos N. Saenz of Las Vegas and Army Staff Sgt. David M. Veverka of Jamestown, Pa., were the 230th and 231st people killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Saenz, 46, was one of three soldiers killed May 5 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near their Humvee. Also killed were Spec. Teodoro Torres, 29, of Las Vegas and Sgt. Nathan J. Vacho, 29, of Janesville, Wis.

Saenz was born in Mexico and moved with his family to Nevada in 1970. He attended Basic High School in Henderson, Nev., where he was a guard on the football team and a member of the Marine Corps ROTC.

After graduation, Saenz joined Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Bragg, N.C. He met his wife, Nanette, in 1982 while visiting friends at Fort Meade, where she was stationed.

Years later, they served together in Operation Desert Storm as military police officers. After returning, they married in Nevada.

Saenz is also survived by a son, Juan, 14, his father, Jose Tarin, and his mother, Joaquina Chorens.

Saenz received numerous awards, including the Good Conduct Medal and the Nevada State Commendation Medal. "Everyone who knew Carlos knew he was proud to be in the military," his wife said. "He really loved what he was doing."

His last assignment with the Army Reserve's 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, based in Abilene, Tex., took him to Iraq last year. He was four days from leaving Iraq.

"He never questioned any of the politics," his wife said. "It was about the soldiers he was serving with."

Several of those soldiers -- dressed in blue and green uniforms -- paid homage to the sergeant yesterday.

A few hours later, more than 50 mourners gathered nearby to honor Veverka, 25, who was killed May 6 in Diwaniyah, Iraq, by an improvised explosive device.

Veverka was assigned to the Army National Guard's B Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, based in Brewer, Maine. Staff Sgt. Dale J. Kelly Jr., 48, of Richmond, Maine, also was killed in the explosion.

Veverka attended Jamestown High School, where he was leading scorer on a basketball team that was 0-21 his senior year. "David was about 5-10 -- we would stretch him to 5-11," basketball coach Scott Taylor said. "He battled guys that were 6-4, 6-5 every night, but he was a hard worker. He never gave up."

Teachers said Veverka was in the top 10 percent of his high school class. After graduating, he joined the Army as a way to pay for his education at the University of Maine, where he was studying wildlife ecology.

Last year, Veverka was appointed to a fellowship program for "unusually promising students" designed to inspire young scientists. For months, Veverka worked with a sixth-grade class to design a biodiversity project, said Susan Brawley, the fellowship coordinator.

"When he heard that his unit was likely to be called up in November, he called me right away," Brawley said. "He was very concerned that this project continue once he left. He had that sense of responsibility."

Veverka was to graduate with his class this month and was considering attending graduate school in California. University officials awarded him a posthumous degree May 13. "He would have been an extraordinary biologist," Brawley said.

Although most of the students at Jamestown High are too young to remember Veverka, he has inspired many of them, Principal Brian Keyser said.

"He really was the all-American kid who came from a small town, from working-class parents," Keyser said. "He showed that it doesn't matter what your background is -- you can still do great things. He's a great role model."