Soldier’s smile remembered

Alicia Robinson

More than a thousand people stood solemnly, almost completely silent,

as a flag-draped coffin containing the body of 22-year-old Trevor

Win’E was carried to the front of the auditorium at Calvary Chapel on

Monday.

Family and friends came to pay tribute to Win’E, a longtime Costa

Mesa resident and U.S. Army specialist who died in action in Tikrit,

Iraq, on May 1 after the truck he was driving hit an improvised bomb

the previous day. They remembered him as a friendly, supportive and

always smiling person who touched many lives, and that was evident in

the huge crowd that came to honor him.

At the beginning of the service video screens near the front of

the chapel showed a presentation of photos of Win’E throughout his

life -- a baby being held by family members, a grinning blond tot

riding a carousel horse, a little boy in baseball and football

uniforms, on a ski trip, at family events and, finally, a picture of

him in his military fatigues wearing the warm smile friends said was

characteristic of him.

Win’E’s sister Tracy fought back tears as she described her

brother as unique and entertaining.

“Trevor was a loved son, a proud uncle, a little brother, a true

friend,” she said. “Trevor was a young man who made mistakes

discovering life, but learned from them to become a better man.”

Win’E was a petroleum supply specialist with the 24th

Quartermaster Company from Fort Lewis, Wash. He joined the Army in

May 2002 and was deployed to Iraq in November 2003.

The family is proud of Win’E for his military service, said his

mother, Debbie Win’E. Trevor Win’E told his parents recently that he

and his fellow servicemen all agreed if they had the chance to come

home from Iraq, they wouldn’t have taken it, Debbie Win’E said.

“They had a job, they were going to do it, and they were going to

stay until it was finished,” she said.

Trevor Win’E is a hero because he was willing to serve his

country, said Adam Brown, Win’E’s youth pastor at Lighthouse Coastal

Community Church. The shortness of Win’E’s life should remind others

to hug their loved ones more often and live each day as fully as

possible, Brown said.

“We can either become victims or we can become victorious,” Brown

said. “I think Trevor would want us to leave here today being

victorious.”

In between speakers and during the video presentation, Pete

Shambrook, a pastor at Rock Harbor church in Costa Mesa, played

acoustic guitar and sang songs about Christian faith and inspiration.

After the service a long line formed to sign the guest book, and

outside the chapel people comforted each other and remembered Win’E.

“The picture that had him smiling kind of says it all right

there,” friend Chris Rhorer said. “That was him.”

Rhorer said he played hockey with Win’E, who was a close friend of

Rhorer’s brother. Their families lived just minutes from each other

for years, Rhorer said.

“When I heard [Win’E] was coming over I always looked forward to

seeing him,” Rhorer said. “He’s going to be missed by a whole lot of

people, but he’s in a better place now.”

The service was followed by burial with military honors at

Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana.