By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

ANOTHER soldier from Saipan was killed in action in Iraq — the second CNMI casualty, so far, this year.
Army Spc. Leroy Camacho, 27, of Kagman, died on Friday.
“I just wish that President Bush would pull out the troops,” said the soldier’s sister, Juanette Camacho, in an interview on Saturday at their house.
Her son, who also enlisted in the Army, will be deployed to Iraq next month.
“He is assigned to go there even though I don’t want him to,” she said.
Spc. Camacho had been in Iraq since 2003. He was working in a merchandising shop on Saipan when he was called to active duty as a reservist.
“He thought that going to the military would improve his livelihood — he never got a job in the (CNMI) government,” his sister said.
“He was a very good brother and father. And a loving husband. He was very close to his nieces and nephews. Very helpful and very funny,” she added.
She said her brother called them a few days before his death and told them to take care of his children.
Spc. Camacho is the seventh child of Maria, 61, and Jose, 63. The couple has 10 children.
Spc. Camacho was the fifth soldier from the Northern Marianas to die in Iraq.
Last month, Marine Lance Cpl. Adam Quitugua Emul, 19, died from wounds he received while conducting combat operations in Iraq’s Anbar province.
Emul’s brother, Frankie Quitugua, said it is “not fair” to use young soldiers as “pawns” in the war in Iraq.
His cousin, Elias Saralu, said the U.S. government should strengthen Iraq’s security capability instead of sending more troops.
“They should just pull out everybody,” said Saralu.