I met LtCol. Robert Zangas when he was a captain and I was a mere PFC. He had a sly sense of humor and an honest demeanor, and though I did not know him well, he seemed like am excellent officer, and he was well-liked by everyone in our civil affairs unit.
His tour ended at our unit, but a decade later he returned, just in time to go to war. I was in the first detachment to go to the Mideast, and he was with the rest of the unit, but after the war we all regrouped in the city of Al Kut to run Wasit province until we could turn things over to the Army. LtCol. Zangas’s professionalism and good humor was a calming influence on many Marines, and his leadership contributed greatly to our successes.
After the war, LtCol. Zangas returned to Iraq, this time as a civilian working for the Coalition Provisional Authority as a press officer. This week, two men dressed as policemen murdered him, another CPA employee, and their Iraqi translator. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
Please pray for the soul of Robert Zangas, and for his widow, and his fatherless children. Also, please pray that we never abandon Iraq to the vicious thugs who prowl about that country seeking to oppress its people once again.
Break their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
When he bends his bow,
Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
(Psalm 58:6-8)
UPDATE: There’s an AP story about the attack here.
I’m sorry for your loss.
i’m terribly sorry to hear that you have lost a friend and comrade…
i also heard that bob zangas had an excellent online blog describing his experiences in iraq in helping to rebuild the country…would you happen to have the link to his site? thanks
I just found it:
http://zangasiniraq.militarypages.com
As a young PFC at MCAS New River in 1984, I also knew 1stLt Zangas where he was my first OIC (Officer in Charge) at HMM-266. I remember him as a young man who loved to run, who fumbled a bit to learn the Marine Corps way of doing things, but only because he wanted to do what was best for his Marines and the squadron and was not too interested in the politically right thing to do. He was proud of his brother who was also a Marine at the time and his father who I believe was a retired Navy Aviator as well and worked on the F-14 program as a civilian (I still have an F-14 patch that he gave me years ago). 20 years later as I return from my duty in Iraq and move to the civilian sector as a military retiree, I can truly say that he has been thought of numerous times over the years and will be missed dearly.