The family of a local solider who served in Iraq says they can't believe he's gone.
Silva Martinez talked to her son Corporal Gilberto Meza just days before the tragedy hit. She says he told her not to worry because everything was fine. He said he was coming back soon but he never told her how he was getting back and she never thought it would be like this.
Meza's mother says she never opposed her son going into the military because it made him happy.
Cpl. Meza, 21, of Oxnard, died Oct. 6 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit.
He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany.
His death marks the 17th solider in Ventura County to die this year.
KEY NEWS Reporter Regina Ruiz shows you how this family is dealing with the loss.