[Editor's Note: The exact totals change as deaths are verified. Trista L. Moretti is either the 62nd or 63rd New Jersey soldier killed in this insane senseless war. If you are outraged by Ms. Moretti's death, then join us to work for the impeachment of a president we took at his word, but who lied us into an unnecessary war and played us all for chumps. For the sake of Ms. Moretti and all soldiers in Iraq and for the sake of our country, impeach Bush and Cheney.]
The Record — by Justo Bautista — 28 June 2007 — HACKENSACK — A 27-year-old soldier from South Plainfield was killed in Iraq on Monday when her base came under rocket attack by insurgents, the Pentagon said. Sgt. Trista L. Moretti, an intelligence specialist and paratrooper, was the borough's first casualty of the war. She died in an "indirect fire attack" by insurgents on a base near Nasir Lafitah, according to a release from Moretti's unit, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, stationed at Fort Richardson in Alaska. Twenty-one other paratroopers were injured in the attack, but their injuries were not serious, the Pentagon said. — Click on Trista to read the rest —

The 4th Brigade was deployed to Iraq in October.

Traffic clogged Baker Avenue in the borough Wednesday morning as residents and friends visited the stone-front Cape Cod house where Moretti grew up, offering condolences and bringing fruit and packages.

South Plainfield Mayor Charles Butrico ordered flags in the borough to fly at half-staff on Wednesday.

"We hear about the war and the soldiers who are killed every day, and you almost become desensitized," Butrico said. "When it hits home, you realize what the families go through."

Butrico said Moretti's body was expected to be flown home in three or four days.

Moretti graduated in 1998 from South Plainfield High School, where she starred in field hockey and track.

She joined the Army in 2003.

The family issued a statement saying Trista would always be remembered as a "loving and generous daughter, sister and friend," and a brave soldier who courageously served her country. Trista has an older sister, Jennifer.

Mike Kuzio, 84, a neighbor and World War II veteran, watched "Trissy" Moretti grow up.

"She was an intelligent kid, very polite, very nice," said Kuzio, who served with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy.

"She was on the shy side, but she'd tackle you," said Kuzio, referring to Moretti's athletic side. "I'm horribly against the war. ... You feel for these kids."

Moretti is the second female soldier from New Jersey to be killed in Iraq, according to the Associated Press casualty list. U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ashley L. Huff, who grew up in Belle Mead, was killed Sept. 19 in Mosul after a roadside bomb went off near the vehicle in which she was traveling.
This article contains material from The Associated Press. Contact Justo Bautista. Copyright © 28 June 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.