2003 Malibu High Grad Killed in Iraq

BY HANS LAETZ

Sgt. Robert T. “Bobby” Ayres III, a 2003 Malibu High School graduate, was killed Sept. 29 in Iraq, shot by an insurgent as he exited a vehicle in Baghdad’s Green Zone. He was 23.

The Department of Defense official statement said Ayers “died of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire.” He was one of 4000 soldiers in Iraq from the Army’s 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, based in Vilseck, Germany.

Ayres was buried Wednesday in a private ceremony at the Los Angeles National Veterans Cemetery in Westwood.

“He died doing something he was really committed to, he really believed in what he was doing,” said his father, Robert Ayres II, of El Paso, Texas.

“He told me, ‘Dad, the Iraqi people are awesome, and they need my help,’” the senior Ayres said.

Ayres was on his second tour of duty and has spoken at Malibu High about the war and his experiences in the Army, students said.

During the last years of his high school education, Ayres was “being ushered through his adolescent years” by Malibu High School teacher Nancy Schellkopf, said principal Mark Kelly.

Schellkopf said she and another Malibu teacher, Scott Bilotti, helped Ayres with his education and lifestyle choices while he was enrolled at the campus.

Schellkopf has taught middle school science in Malibu for more than 35 years, and her students say she has talked with them about Ayres. On occasion, Ayres telephoned from Iraq during class, owing to the time difference between California and Iraq.

Kelly had Malibu teachers read a brief statement about Ayres in class Thursday, and called for a moment of silence. The flag was lowered to half staff at the school Thursday, as well as at the State Capitol last Wednesday in Ayres’ honor by order of the governor.

“We certainly have appreciated the support, and words, and cards,” Schellkopf said Sunday.

Ayres grew up in Los Osos, a small town near Morro Bay, before moving to Southern Califoria at age 15. His mother, Michelle Ayres, still lives there. She told the San Luis Obispo Tribune that her son “was a happy, funny and just a really sweet boy. He was fighting for the country and the people that he loved.”

Ayres is also survived by his twin brother Jackson Ayres of Atascadero; brother Aaron Mizrahi of Los Angeles; and sisters Dothy Ayres of Los Angeles and Mimi Mizrahi of Los Osos.

Ayres is the first known Malibu High graduate to die in armed combat, Kelly said. Several Malibuites were killed in the Vietnam War, which predated the establishment of the high school.

The Associated Press reported that as of last Wednesday, 3807 United States servicemen and women have died in or supporting the war in Iraq.