1st Lt. Robert C. Oneto-Sikorski
was on a foot patrol Monday near al Haswah, an area
west of Baghdad, when he was killed by a roadside bomb.

Elaine Oneto was told by military officials that her soldier son lost his life in Iraq, just as she was trying to rebuild her own life after Hurricane Katrina.

Oneoto-Sikorski was serving in Iraq with the 155th Brigade Combat Team with the mother of his children, Clare Ranger. The 155th, which is made up of about 3,500 Mississippi National Guard soldiers and others from more than a dozen states.

Oneto-Sikorski's children - ages 6, 8, and 11 - are staying with relatives near Memphis, Tenn., where they relocated after the storm.

While in Iraq, storm surge from the hurricane flooded both his mother's home and his own. But in one of their last phone conversations, they looked to the future and talked about his homecoming.

The back-to-back tragedy has fueled anger for some in Oneto-Sikorski's family. His aunt, Eloise Kindja, said the family has had a difficult time in securing hurricane relief and the soldier's mother is still waiting for a temporary trailer from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

May Robert Rest in Peace!