Lance Cpl. Travis M. Wichlacz, 22, of West Bend, Wisconsin, was a 2002 graduate of West Bend West High School, where he was a standout in wrestling, football, and track. His wrestling coach, Bob Kopecky, remembered him as "a pretty tough person. He was competitive. He wasn't afraid of anyone." He joined the U.S. Marine Reserves in April 2002 and reported for infantry training in San Diego. As a rifleman with the Milwaukee-based Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines, he deployed to Iraq in June 2004, taking part in raids to find weapons caches and dismantle bombs. He and his fellow Marines helped stabilize the Babil province region ahead of the January 2005 elections. On February 5, 2005, he was killed by a bomb explosion while on patrol in Babil province. He was the fifth Wisconsin Marine from Fox Company to die in Iraq, and the 33rd service member from Wisconsin killed in the war. He had married Angela Coakley just nine months earlier.
""It was as if love spontaneously spilled from his heart," Father Jeffrey Haines said at a funeral packed with hundreds. "He was a committed, loyal and hardworking man. He always had this radiant smile and this twinkle in his eye that would light up any room he walked into." His sister Sheena read, "I need to face one of my biggest fears: your absence... I would give you the world, my life, if it would bring you home." After the service, the family released red, white and blue balloons into a clear, sunny sky."
"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old."
— Laurence Binyon