CRAIG REEDThe News-Review

When the doctor walked into theroom, bowed his head, quietlytold Zack LosBanos he had ter-

minal cancer and said he was sorry, thepatient didn’t take the news sitting down.

“I stood up and told him, ‘I’m going tobeat the son of a bitch,’ ” LosBanos said.

That was the training and experience ofthe soldier speaking. LosBanos had 16months experience in front-line combat,having been deployed to the Iraqi Warafter enlisting in the U.S. Army in 2003.He was a student at Umpqua CommunityCollege and was working at the Bureau ofLand Management when he decided toserve his country.

His two duty positions during hisdeployment were assault team leader andsniper with elite light infantry and specialoperations forces.

He saw death up close and had someclose calls himself while involved in bothovert and covert combat operations. Hisunit specialized in sending out teams totarget, capture and neutralize insurgent ter-rorist cells that made and set improvisedexplosive devices.

He survived those missions and thecombat, although he did suffer someshrapnel wounds to his shoulder and knee.

Between combat and cancer, “I shouldbe dead because of both,” the 32-year-old

said. “But combat was a great educationfor me in how to deal with the terminalcancer that I have now. I don’t look at it asirony. It’s just part of life that I’ve beendealt.”

LosBanos, who has been a Roseburgresident since moving to the area with hisfamily at age 8, was honorably dischargedin 2007 after finishing his four-year enlist-ment.

“I owe all the credit for being here to theprofessional men who were on my teamand who I served with,” said the 1998Roseburg High graduate. “We all kept eachother alive. We were mature professionalsoldiers who wanted to be there.

“We volunteered in the middle of a war,we weren’t drafted. Most of the guys onmy six-man team had great professionsand were successful in the civilian worldbefore enlisting. We all had the same call-ing. That made it easy to slug it out on aday-to-day basis — because of the com-mitted, professional mentality of the men Iserved with.

“There isn’t a day that passes that I don’tthink about my teammates,” he added.“And the terror and horror of combatwhich we endured together. I also remem-ber the brave heroes who had foughtbefore me like my grandpa Almon, mygrandpa Alfred, my friend Chip, my bestfriend, Salvador, who saved my life in

Friday, November 11, 2011–The News-Review, Veterans Day Tribute Roseburg Oregon, Page 3

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SALUTE TO VETERANS

Fighting on a new front

Photo courtesy of Zack LosBanos

Zack LosBanos of Roseburg holds his daughter, Olivia, in a recent photo.The sur-vivor of combat operations in Iraq says his child inspires him to fight against the can-cer his doctor says is terminal.

Turn to LOSBANOS, page 13

U.S. Army veteran and Roseburg native Zack LosBanos survivedheavy combat in Iraq, but now faces a terminal cancer diagnosis

Baghdad, and my beloved brother in arms,Uncle Merrill. These men all saved my lifein combat in one way or another.”

After returning home to Roseburg, Los-Banos knew something was wrongbecause of his weight loss and chronicpain throughout his body. At first hethought he was hurt from combat.

Within his first month back, he used theresources at the VA Roseburg HealthcareSystem to help with his adjustment tocivilian life.

“Dr. Jack Finney at the VA has been atremendous support system for me in thetransition from warrior to citizen,” Los-Banos said.

His health progressively got worse,however. He had spells of passing out andgetting the shakes. He then started feelinglumps under his skin. He finally travelednorth for an appointment with the oncolo-gy department at the Portland VA. A biop-sy was done of his lymph nodes and a doc-tor delivered the cancer news to the sol-dier.

LosBanos had multiple myeloma, ablood cancer. He said his oncologists toldhim they believed his cancer was a resultof the sensitive operations with which hewas involved in Iraq.

“They said I was one of the youngestpatients they’d ever seen with this dis-ease,” LosBanos said. “They said usuallyyou’re in your 60s or 70s when you havethis. I had bone lesions on my skeletal sys-tem and lymph node soft tissue lumps.”

He had surgery to remove cancerouslumps from around his throat and neck.

LosBanos was inspired to fight the dis-ease not only for himself, but also for hisfuture child. His wife was pregnant whenhe was told of his cancer.

“My prognosis was not very good, theysaid only a few months,” he said. “I choseto try to use the courage I used in war incombating cancer. I wanted to live long

enough to see our child born.”He did, and Olivia was born Nov. 18,

2009.“It was the most magical thing I had

ever experienced,” he said.Two weeks later, LosBanos went to

Seattle for a bone marrow transplant. Hewas told he’d be in remission for abouttwo years. But four months after the trans-plant, cancer was detected again in hisbone marrow.

He’s endured high dose chemotherapyand is now only a week away from beingable to celebrate Olivia’s second birthdaywith her.

“I fight chronic pain, chronic fatigueevery day, but I like it because it reinforcesthe fact I still have a chance to live everyday,” he said.

He also said he realizes the odds areagainst him. For that reason and for hisdaughter, he agreed to being interviewedfor this story.

“I do not want any credit for my militaryservice,” he explained. “However, if I endup dying from cancer in the next few yearsand don’t get the chance to express itmyself to our daughter Olivia when she’solder, I want her to be able to read this andto always have the credit and honor of herfather’s military service.”

He thanked many for helping him bestrong in dealing with his health.

“ I owe my daily survival of cancer tomy immediate family, friends, doctors andmost of all to my daughter, Olivia,” hesaid. “She has given me the strength andwill to want to survive and fight this horri-ble disease day in and day out. I also wantto thank my fishing buddies for getting medown to the fishing hole everyday while Iwas sick from chemotherapy. Thanks A.D.,Lyle and Uncle Merrill.”

Tom Tipton, a Vietnam War veteran wholike LosBanos was a team leader and wasin combat, said his friend is not one to giveup.

“He’s not one to throw his hands in theair and surrender,” Tipton said. “That’s nota part of him. He’s a real conscientiousguy who is committed to his men and tothe values of the army. He volunteered, hedidn’t get drafted. He’s definitely one youwant to be with when the chips are down.”

LosBanos now spends much of his timein his garage that’s been converted into awoodshop. He makes wood items for sup-portive neighbors who have provided himwith dinners and mowed his lawn.

The soldier said he doesn’t feel sorry forhimself and is not angry about the cancer.He said it’s simply part of the sacrifice hechose to make in serving his country.

“Even knowing the outcome, I wouldstill do it over again,” he said of his mili-tary duty. “It’s the greatest honor of mylife to have served with the most elite menin the military to combat terrorism for theU.S. of America and to also have joinedranks with all the other veterans both inmy family and in our nation who haveserved and sacrificed for our country.

“Every day I’ve been alive since mycombat experience has been a blessingbecause many of our comrades have notlived past the age of 18,” he added. “Evenhaving a terminal disease and knowinghow hard it is on a daily basis to deal with,I still have a commitment and duty to livemy life to the fullest to honor all of ournation’s fallen comrades.”

You can reach Features Editor CraigReed at 541-957-4210 or by email atcreed@nrtoday.com.

Friday, November 11, 2011–The News-Review, Veterans Day Tribute Roseburg Oregon, Page 13

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LosBanos: Multiple myeloma causes chronic pain, fatigueContinued from page 3

Photos courtesy of Zack LosBanos

1998 Roseburg High School graduateZack LosBanos is seen carrying outsome of his Army duties in Iraq. He wasa team leader and sniper with elite lightinfantry and special operations forces.

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