Army Spc. Mary Jane Jaenichen loved family, country and Elmo

Army Spc. Mary Jane Jaenichen, 20, Temecula; military police officer dies of noncombat-related injury
By Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 17, 2008

Mary Jane Jaenichen served for four years in the Marine Corps ROTC at El Camino High School in Oceanside. She loved the beach and hanging out with friends but, especially, she loved the drill team.

When instructors yelled questions and the team shouted back, Jaenichen, who was about 5 feet 3, "would always scream loud," said her friend Emily Ricci. "And everyone would laugh because she was so short and skinny. But she had so much power behind her voice."

It is the memory of that enthusiasm, of a young woman with a soft heart and a strong will, that her friends and family now treasure.

Jaenichen, 20, died of a noncombat-related injury May 9 in Iskandariya, Iraq, south of Baghdad, according to the Department of Defense, which has not released details of an ongoing investigation. It was her only tour of Iraq.

The 2006 graduate had signed up for the Army Reserve at age 17 with the promise of a military-funded college education. She attended boot camp between her junior and senior years.
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