Services honor Utah Marine

SPANISH FORK — Friends and family paid final respects Wednesday for a fallen Utah Marine.

Funeral services for Lance Cpl. Cesar F. Machado-Olmos were held in his hometown of Spanish Fork two days after what was to have been his 21st birthday.

A public memorial service was held for Machado-Olmos at the Spanish Fork National Guard Armory Sunday.

Machado-Olmos died Sept. 13 when his Humvee rolled in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. He was laid to rest with full military honors.

"He could've stayed home," said Araceli Zavala, a family friend. "He could've done other things in life, and the reality of things is that he did what he wanted to do, which is serve his country."

Machado-Olmos' family moved to Utah from Mexico when he was a child. He graduated in 2001 from Spanish Fork High School, where his love of reading, swimming and Spanish Fork Reservoir were well known.

He joined the Marines right after high school in August 2001. He served two tours in Iraq, earning the Presidential Unit Citation on his first tour during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He also received the Combat Action Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and National Defense Service Medal.

Lance Cpl. Michael J. Halal, 22, of Glendale, Ariz., died in the same accident last week.

Machado-Olmos' second tour of duty was scheduled to end in January.

Machado-OImos was working toward U.S. citizenship when he died.

He is survived by his mother, Patricia Acosta, a brother, Esau Acosta, 12, and a sister, Samantha, 8. His father, Jose Manuel Machado, died when Machado-Olmos was a child.

He was the ninth Utahn killed in the Iraq conflict and the first Latino Marine from the state to die in the war.

The military is still investigating the accident.

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Contributing: KSL-TV