When Marine 1st Sgt. Edward C. Smith died from combat injuries, he left behind two grieving families: a wife and three children and the Anaheim police force.
Smith worked four years as a reserve officer for the police department, where his co-workers considered him a true gentleman and a professional. News spread quickly Sunday that he would not return.
"It just broke my heart," said police Sgt. Rick Martinez.
Smith, a 20-year veteran of the Marine Corps, died Saturday in Doha, Qatar, of wounds sustained during fighting in central Iraq on Friday. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton.
Smith had wanted to retire from the Marines and become a full-time police officer, Martinez said, but military retirements had been frozen because of the impending conflict.
He kept in contact with his peers at the Anaheim Police Department by e-mail and sent makeshift postcards constructed from empty MRE containers. In one of them, now hung on a police department bulletin board, he promised to wear his Anaheim SWAT cap into Baghdad.
Smith, 38, was a native of Chicago. He and his wife, Sandy, lived in Vista with their children.
Their middle child, Ryan, said at a news conference Tuesday at the police department that his father was always there for him when he needed help.
"It made me feel so good. He was the best dad you could ever have," the 10-year-old said. "I miss him a lot."
Smith's oldest son, Nathan, 12, and daughter, Shelby, 8, also attended the news conference, where more than 100 police personnel came out to offer the family support.
"We all fell in love with his children," Martinez said. "Edward's got to be so proud right now."
Union-Tribune library researcher Tom Stinson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Kristen Green: (619) 542-4576; kristen.green@uniontrib.com
