Villarreal, Emmanuel

Emmanuel Villarreal was a 21-year-old Marine from Eagle Pass, Texas, a city on the U.S.-Mexico border. He served as a lance corporal with Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, a field artillery regiment. His unit was part of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based out of Camp Pendleton, California.

Villarreal died on May 27, 2007, at Kuwait Naval Base, a major logistics and staging hub for U.S. forces in the region. According to the Department of Defense, he was killed while conducting combat operations. The base was a frequent target of indirect fire, such as rocket or mortar attacks, though the precise details of the incident that killed him were not widely detailed in public reports.

His death occurred during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the U.S.-led multinational invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq that began in March 2003. By 2007, the conflict was marked by intense sectarian violence and a U.S. troop surge aimed at stabilizing the country. American casualties that year were among the highest of the war.

Villarreal's death was reported by major news outlets, including the Associated Press, which listed him among the day's casualties. He was one of at least 10 U.S. service members killed in Iraq and Kuwait on or around that date, according to military announcements. His family in Eagle Pass was notified by the Marine Corps.

Lance Corporal Villarreal is memorialized on the Iraq War Veterans Memorial and other online registries of the fallen. He was one of 4418 American service members who died during Operation Iraqi Freedom, a figure documented by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Lance Corporal Villarreal was killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003–2010). The conflict concluded in August 2010. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.

Among those documented in the same conflict: Kennedy, Brian Matthew, Beaupre, Ryan Anthony, Gutierrez, Jose, Waters-bey, Kendall Damon.

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