November 15, 2004 -- Thirty-two year old Captain Sean Sims from El Paso was the father of an infant son. He was killed by small arms fire while clearing a building in Fallujah. KFOX spoke to a Marine who knows what it's like to be on the front lines of war.

Ben Gonzales- Wounded Marine, "I know they're doing a lot of raids in Fallujah to try and capture the insurgents. We did a lot of raids."

Lance Corporal Ben Gonzales says he keeps up with the news. Gonzales, a Marine, came home after he was wounded in an explosion in Fallujah. He says he heard about the Captain who was killed.

Gonzales, "It's something we have to do as mean and if anyone is going to do it it's the Marines and soldiers."

Capt. Sean Sims commanded the 1st Infantry Division's Task Force 2-2. They were in Southwest Fallujah, where pockets of hard-core gunmen were still shooting from houses and low rooftops.

Capt. Sims is quoted in an interview with Knight Ridder Newspapers saying: "We've killed a lot of bad guys", he said. "But there's always going to be some guys left. They'll hide out and snipe at us for two months. I hope we've gotten the organized resistance."

Sims' men led a CNN crew through the ruins in Southwest Fallujah showing them what was left of the buildings after days of firing.

On Saturday Capt. Sims walked into an apparently abandoned house with two soldiers and was suddenly confronted with a room full of armed men. The two soldiers were hit near the shoulder but Sims received deadly wounds.

The day before, Sims was still trying to get over the death of his company's executive officer. He was quoted in the article saying: "It's tough. I don't know what to think about it yet. All of this will forever tainted because we lost him."

In the article written on his unit, his men said they liked and respected him. Back in his hometown, Gonzales says now Sims has the respect of others who never met him.

Gonzales, "He went out as a leader he went out as a soldier. He fought for his country... his family should be proud."