By Lauren O. Kidd
Asbury Park Press
TOMS RIVER — Four days before his death in war-torn Iraq, Marine Cpl. Thomas E. Saba called his parents and left a voice mail to “make sure you are safe and all right.”
Saba was worried about his parents, Anthony and Barbara Saba, because they were vacationing in central Florida, which had been hit by severe tornadoes, his parents said. They were safe.
Saba called his parents back in Toms River that day, Feb. 3, and spoke to them directly for the last time.
But the voice mail and one before it remain on the Sabas’ cell phone.
Thomas Saba, 30, was one of seven troops killed in a helicopter crash northwest of Baghdad on Wednesday.
In an interview Monday, Saba’s family remembered him as a doting uncle, a practical joker who nonetheless was quick to help people, and a man who died standing up for what he believed in.
“He was our everyday hero,” said his sister, Laura Saba of Highlands.
“He always made you laugh,” said his other sister, Mary Ellen Ditchkus of Brick.
Family members told stories of Thomas helping others when their cars broke down, planting flowers in his parent’s yard just to show he had been there, and spending a month with a friend — who “kidnapped” him, his family said — to support her after she left her husband who had been battering her.
“He was very, very loved,” Barbara Saba said.
Saba, who grew up in Grymes Hill on Staten Island, enlisted in the Marines in April 2002 after losing friends in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He spent most of his five-year commitment with the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262, The Flying Tigers, in Okinawa, Japan.
When his parents moved to Toms River about a decade ago, Thomas remained on Staten Island, but he lived with them in Toms River for about four or five months prior to starting boot camp in 2002, and when he was home on leave, they said.
Saba was scheduled to be discharged in April, but instead extended his duty by seven months so he could serve in Iraq with his unit. He had been there for 10 days and requested to serve on his first mission when the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter he was in crashed.
Saba was the only one of his unit on board. He had volunteered for the casualty-evacuation mission because the newly arrived squadron had not yet begun its missions.
“He thought you had to stand up for what you believed in. He was like that,” Anthony Saba said.
Anthony Saba said all his son’s favorite movies, such as “Braveheart,” had a theme of good versus bad.
Over Christmas, Saba was home in Toms River for what his mother called “the best two weeks of our lives.” She said her son made her light up the whole house and put out all the decorations at the home in the Lake Ridge section.
Laura Saba drove her brother to Newark Airport when his leave was over. Because his flight kept getting canceled, she brought him to her Highlands home for a day’s stay-over. She said that in that time her brother explained to her why he wanted to serve in Iraq.
“What we are protecting is the freedom to speak up,” Laura said her brother told her.
She also said he told her “I don’t want my nieces and nephews to be afraid to go to a Yankee game.”
Laura Saba said that a woman at the airport helping Saba with his flight had a son serving his third tour in Iraq, and asked Saba why he was going there.
Laura said her brother pointed to the flag in the American Airlines logo, and said “You know what they say: “These colors don’t run.’ “
Saba, who was single, planned on becoming an elementary school teacher when he came home because he believed too many children lack positive male role models, his sister Mary Ellen said.
Barbara said her son was a role model for his three nephews and one niece. He was the godfather for two of them, as well as for his best friend’s daughter, she said.
Saba is also survived by his brother, Anthony, who lives in Seoul, South Korea.
“They were our four pillars, our four children,” the elder Anthony said. “Without Tommy, it’s like having lost an arm.”
Toms River Mayor Paul C. Brush met with the Saba family Monday. He took a photo of Thomas Saba from their dining room wall to copy, and said he would hang the copy on the “Wall of Heroes” at town hall.
“You have a lot to be proud of,” Brush told the Sabas.
Wake and funeral arrangements have not been finalized. The burial will be in Moravian Cemetery on Staten Island, the family said.
Maj. Gen. Jim Simmons, deputy commander for support, Multi-National Corps-Iraq, told Stars and Stripes that the recent crashes of helicopters were the result of a mix of mechanical problems and enemy gunfire and did not signal a need to limit helicopter flights in Iraq.
Simmons said, however, it did not appear that the helicopter that Saba was on was struck by a shoulder-fired missile.
The use of helicopters to ferry troops and supplies — a prime mission of Boeing’s twin-rotor CH-46 Sea Knight — throughout Iraq has increased enormously over the past two years, owing mostly to the dangers of roadside bombs. The increase in missions has also increased enemy opportunities to down aircraft. Simmons suggested that U.S. aircraft would be even more enticing targets now that coalition forces were increasing troop numbers as part of a plan to bring stability to Baghdad.
TOMS RIVER, N.J. — Marine Cpl. Thomas Saba could have been discharged in April.