01/24/2005

Associated Press

Another soldier with Oregon ties has died in Iraq, family members said Monday.

Nainoa K. Hoe, 27, was shot and killed by a sniper last weekend as he led a foot patrol through Mosul, according to his wife of seven months, Emily Hoe, a Western Oregon University business student whose parents live in Newberg.

Nainoa Hoe was originally from Kailua, Hawaii, a Honolulu suburb, and graduated with a master's degree in business administration from the University of Hawaii, according to his mother-in-law, Sharon Vo.

A first lieutenant in the Army, Hoe had been stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., but hoped someday to join the FBI, his mother-in-law said.

Hours before his death, Nainoa Hoe had emailed his wife to tell her that he'd be home on leave in February, Vo said.

"We think he had that joy in his heart," Vo said.

Nainoa and Emily Hoe were married last June, during a simple, sunset ceremony on a Hawaiian beach, Vo said, attended only by their families. The two were planning a formal reception for next fall, when Nainoa Hoe was due to return from Iraq, she said.

"He was a wonderful man. She fell in love with him immediately," Vo said, of her daughter. "She has a notebook here with all his awards. He was a top soldier. He had done so much, it's unbelievable. Now she is 21 and a widow."

A memorial service in Hoe's honor is planned at Fort Lewis, Vo said.

"He was following his duty, that was what he was doing," Vo said. "We support the troops a thousand percent."