Army Staff Sgt. Darrell Griffin Jr.'s final e-mail to his wife, Diana, reflected all of his passions: his love for her, his quest for knowledge and his commitment to being a soldier.
Four days before he was killed by enemy small-arms fire March 21 during combat near Baghdad, he quoted from a Greek translation that he was reading:
"Spartan women of Greece used to tell their husbands, before they went into battle, to come back with their shields or laying on them, dying honorably in battle," he wrote. "But if they did not return with their shield, this showed that they ran away from the battle."
"Cowardice," he told his wife of 12 years, "was not a Spartan virtue." Diana, on the other hand, was his "Spartan woman of strength and virtue."
Griffin, a 36-year-old Alhambra resident, was on his second tour of combat duty in Iraq. He had returned with a hero's accolades -- a Bronze Star with Valor awarded in 2005 for his role in saving the lives of three American soldiers and two Iraqi soldiers injured during battle in Tal Afar. He believed that American soldiers could make a difference for the Iraqi people.
"He was a really patriotic young man," said his father, Darrell Griffin Sr. of Van Nuys. "He said that the people there really needed us and he felt it was the right place to be. He wished we didn't have to have wars, but since that's the way mankind is, he felt he was contributing an important part to his country."
Darrell Ray Griffin Jr. was born March 13, 1971, and grew up in Turlock, Calif., near Modesto. The eldest son of six children, he was known as Skip to his family, which moved to the San Fernando Valley when he was in his late teens. He worked as an emergency medical technician in Los Angeles County before joining the California Army National Guard in 1999.
Two years later, he enlisted in the Army. In July 2001, he reported to Ft. Lewis, Wash., where he was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. He served in Iraq with that unit from October 2004 to September 2005.
Nine months ago, he returned to combat on assignment with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, also based at Ft. Lewis.
A week before Griffin was killed, his father spoke to him by telephone on his birthday. "He was concerned about our government pulling the carpet out from under our soldiers," said his father, referring to debate in Washington about funding for the war effort.
