posted on March 24, 2003 06:32:47 PM new
LOMITA, Calif. - Eight years ago, a 14-year-old Guatemalan boy traveled alone across Mexico, looking for a better life in the United States. He found a foster family, went to high school, then joined the Marine Corps in gratitude to the United States.
On Friday, Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, 22, became the first combat casualty of the war in Iraq (news - web sites), killed in fighting around the port city of Umm al Qasr.
"He joined the Marines to pay back a little of what he'd gotten from the U.S. For him it was a question of honor," said Gutierrez's foster brother, Max Mosquera.
Gutierrez crossed into California after taking a series of trains from Guatemala through Mexico, family members said. "I know it was real rough," Max Mosquera said.
He was taken in by Marcelo and Nora Mosquera, themselves immigrants from Latin America. Gutierrez dreamed of becoming an architect, but postponed his plans to join the Marines.
In September, Gutierrez became an infantry rifleman with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, according to Camp Pendleton officials.
"He was fighting for the port city of Umm al Qasr, which is important to the U.S. so we can bring humanitarian aid into the country," said Marine Capt. James Rich, who has been counseling Gutierrez's foster family since notifying them of his death.
On Monday, a flag at half-staff hung outside the Mosquera's home in Lomita, 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. The front porch was lined with pots of geraniums, each with a flag and a sign that read "United We Stand."
Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala notified Gutierrez' sister Sunday. The woman, whose name was not immediately released, lives in a poor section of Guatemala City and was listed as his only next-of-kin in military records, said Fernando Castillo, the Guatemalan consul general in Los Angeles.
"She does not have a phone, so it is difficult to reach her," Castillo said. He said Gutierrez' sister hoped to have her brother's body returned to Guatemala.
Gunnery Sgt. Willie Ellerbrock, from the Naval Marine Corps Air Center in Long Beach, said the family was tentatively planning a funeral in Guatemala and Marines from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala would provide an honor guard at the service. They were also trying arrange it so the Mosquera family could attend.
Neighbors described Gutierrez as quiet but friendly. "I used to see him playing with his two little brothers," neighbor Rebecca Mendez said. "That really impressed me. Now I only wish I would have taken a bit more time to talk to the kid."
posted on March 24, 2003 06:55:23 PM new
Salute the fine young man who was a CITIZEN of the US...
So how come you are disrespecting this fine young man by saying he is illegal?
Where does it say he crawled across the border like some worm?
Notice his foster parents were immigrants... it did not say illegal immigrants...
Here Neon, seeing how you were to damned lazy to look first and had to write something disrespectful about that person
Basic requirements and process for enlistment
Here are the basic requirements for enlistment:
Age: at least 17 to but not older than 34
Citizenship: Citizen of the US, Alien who has been lawfully admitted to the US for permanent residence, National of the US or a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
AIN'T LIFE GRAND...
[ edited by Twelvepole on Mar 24, 2003 07:12 PM ]
posted on March 24, 2003 07:10:51 PM new
::So how come you are disrespecting this fine young man by saying he is illegal? ::
Twelve, I went in search of text on Jose after watching a profile on him on NBC tonight. I tried to find a transcript on CNBC.com of ther report but was unable to do so.
He road the rails across Mexico where he snuck across the border and eventually ended up in Los Angeles. It was in Los Angeles that his foster parents took him in and he was able to evuntually establish legal immigration status.
I truly wish I could have found a transcript of the NBC story, including Tom Brokaws comment at the end that the next time one is tempted to rail against illegals coming into our nation you should stop and think of this story.
::Where does it say he crawled across the border like some worm? ::
Want some help with that foot?
[ edited by neonmania on Mar 24, 2003 07:12 PM ]
posted on March 24, 2003 07:18:47 PM new
::Here Neon, seeing how you were to damned lazy to look first and had to write something disrespectful about that person ::
I truly hope that at this point you complete like the complete ass that you have proven yourself to be in this thread but just for clarification, he became a legalized citizen... I'm assuming based on hardship as he was an orphaned child with no known adult family members.
posted on March 24, 2003 07:21:01 PM new
You truly are a sad pathetic little man. aYou jumped the gun and spewed venom and accusations and succeeded only in showing yourself to be the hate filled hypocritical bigot that you are. You should have just asked.
::Yeah can't find the transcript... that's what they all say... ::
Do you honestly think I made up an account of a story and commentary aired on broadcast TV that any person on this board could have watched and disputed my account of?
You are really scraping the bottom of the barrel on that one.
posted on March 24, 2003 07:26:27 PM newDo you honestly think I made up an account of a story and commentary aired on broadcast TV that any person on this board could have watched and disputed my account of?
Yes I do, I think you are that f*(king ignorant...
posted on March 24, 2003 07:29:38 PM new
::He was US citizen pure and simple he was some illegal that is sponging off the welfare of this country... Are you really that ignorant and naive? ::
Keep digging Twelve. While he did become a legalized citizen, he in fact came to this country as one of those.. wht was the word you used... oh yes "worm".
The point of the story was to prove to short sighted people such as yourself that nationality and immigration history does not make the man.
posted on March 24, 2003 07:32:43 PM newGutierrez was born in Guatemala and moved to the United States as a child with his parents, Fernando Castillo, the Guatemalan consul general in Los Angeles, said. Castillo said he was in contact with the Marine Corps but had no further information about Gutierrez or his family.
LOMITA, Calif., 5:36 p.m. PST March 24, 2003 - Lance Corporal Jose Gutierrez, 22, loved living in the United States, loved being a U.S. Marine. On Friday, Gutierrez became the first U.S. combat casuality in the war with Iraq.
His unit was fighting to secure the port of Umm Quasr, when he was shot by Iraqi troops.
Gutierrez was orphaned in Guatamaula, lived on the streets until at the age of 14 and made his way to Los Angeles.
He lived with the Mosqueras and called Nora and Marcelo Mosquera "Mom" and "Dad." Lillian Cardenas and Jackie Baker were older sisters and Hector and Angel Mosquera were little brothers. He learned to speak English, went to North High School in the South Bay and earned a scholarship to Harbor College.
Marcelo Mosquera, a machinist from Ecuador, and his wife Nora Mosquera, a marketing representative from Costa Rica -- who became surrogate parents to Gutierrez -- said that Gutierrez "would go after whatever was put in front of him to reach his goal."
He wanted to be an architect, but also dreamed about gviing back to the country that had given him so much.
Gutierrez had been a Marine only 1 year this month. He was a rifleman with the 2nd battalion, 1st Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton when duty called. He shipped out for the Middle East Jan. 6th.
"He would always come over to tell you a little joke to make you laugh ... and it would brighten you day," his sister, Lilian Cardenas, said.
After hearing about his brother's death, Angel, 8, sat down to write Gutierrez a letter.
Gutierrez, 22, was hit by enemy fire and died Friday in battle near the Southern Iraqi city of Umm al Qasr, while fighting with fellow Marines, a military spokesman said. He was the only one among them killed.
He is believed to be the second American to die in combat. Second Lt. Therrel S. Childers, 30, of Harrison County, Miss., was also killed in combat Friday.
The Mosqueras' adult daughter, Jackie Baker, said that Gutierrez "wanted to give the United States what the United States gave to him. He came with nothing. This country gave him everything."
Gutierrez was an older brother to the younger children taken in by the Mosqueras. Neighbors told the Los Angeles Times he often was seen playing with them and taking them to the nearby McDonald's restaurant.
He was "very helpful and very friendly...nice and courteous," said Dina Purdue, who lived near the Mosqueras' two-story home in Lomita, about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala notified Gutierrez' older sister Sunday night. The woman, whose name was not immediately released, lives in a poor section of Guatemala City and was listed as his only next-of-kin in military records, said Guatemalan Consul General Fernando Castillo of Los Angeles.
"She does not have a phone, so it is difficult to reach her," Castillo said. He said Gutierrez' sister hoped to bring her brother's body back to Guatemala.
But social worker Wendy Perlera, who worked with the Marine when he first came to the United States, said she wanted to bring Gutierrez body back to California and hoped to obtain visas for his sister and her husband to come to the United States.
posted on March 24, 2003 07:45:11 PM new
I think it's safe to say that the Guatemalan consul general didn't quite have his facts straight., not unusual for a beaurocrat.
posted on March 24, 2003 08:34:10 PM new
That Lance Cpl. Guiterrez entered this country illegally at the age of 14 is not in doubt, though he did seek and win legal status. There are multiple sources for that fact here,here and here. He obtained permanent resident status in 1999 and was 22 when he died.
Twelvepole said: [quote]Illegals are worms pure and simple... [/quote]
I don't see how anyone can claim to love this country, yet express such hatred for people who are willing to be stuffed into cargo containers, walk for days with little food or water and live in virtual slavery to abusive employers just for the chance of living in America, or of having their children be born here.
posted on March 24, 2003 08:42:14 PM new
Please see the ad hominem thread. Name calling here began in the first three posts, rendering this entire thread a waste of energy.
posted on March 24, 2003 08:45:31 PM new
"I know that in 1997 he was arrested by the INS
(Immigration and Naturalization Service) but he was underage
and he had an adoptive family to take care of him, so the
immigration judge let him stay," Jorge Contreras, a spokesman
for the Guatemalan Embassy in Washington, told Reuters by
telephone.
Gutierrez was later granted permanent legal residency and
joined the Marines about a year ago but did not take up U.S.
citizenship, Contreras said."
"Fernando Castillo, Guatemala's consul general in Los Angeles, says the United States doesn't deport Guatemalan minors who arrive without family. Gutierrez was made a ward of Los Angeles Juvenile Court. He was placed in a series of group homes and foster families. He learned English and finished high school."
The headline blares that he was illegal, but he a atually never was. As soon as he entered without parents he became a ward of the state. The most that could be said is that he was in legal limbo until the court made a ruling.
And as it has already been shown, you can not enlist if you are an illegal alien.
posted on March 24, 2003 08:46:15 PM new
Prof - funny you should mention that because Iafter reading your statement in the other thread I realized that I didn't help matters t all in this one. I should have simply posted the facts and left it at that.
posted on March 24, 2003 09:06:32 PM new
::The headline blares that he was illegal, but he a atually never was.::
The title was not meant to say that he was an illegal alien at the time he died. It was meant to represent that he started as an illegal immigrant and became a hero of our nation.
posted on March 24, 2003 09:27:45 PM new
Soooo.....it's OK for anyone to sneak over the border as long as they're under the age of 18? Because they'll almost immediately become a ward of the state, entitling them to legal status?
If that's the case, why was Gutierrez arrested? (Which, by the way, I strongly disagree with, but that's another matter.)
At any rate, the thread title was perfectly accurate. To cite a parallel example, I was born almost a month early. A headline over the story of my life could accurately read "Premature Baby .... Late Ever Since."
posted on March 24, 2003 09:50:36 PM new
You posted this as flame bait and now you don't enjoy the flames?
Thank you Msincognito... however, try living in an area where there are many many illegals and then come back and say that again...
We have a LEGAL process to enter this country and I have nothing but disgust and disdain for those who use the back door...
Probably got in under the amnesty that was given out a few years ago...
I will say I stand corrected on the "illegal" part, but he was not illegal at the time he gave his life for his country... which by the way was no longer Guatemala...
I stand by my words.. Illegal immigrants are worms on this society...
posted on March 24, 2003 10:07:17 PM new
::You posted this as flame bait and now you don't enjoy the flames? ::
No, As I stated above, I posted it as an example that nationality and immigration stasus/history do not dictate the merits of the man.
You decided to flame and spew your hatred and make accusations that I was making the story up and out and out lying and I allowed myself to be dragged into your blind hatred.
Big difference.
BTW - I have spent the past 24 years living in areas heavily populated by illegals. I've never felt the range or justification of hatred that you imply in your statment to MsI that should come naturally.
posted on March 25, 2003 08:33:37 AM new
I live in the San Diego area and I can promise you illegal immigration is ruining it.
America wants those who emigrate legally.
Those who don't follow the rules are criminals that don't belong here. They don't pay income tax and often send much of the money they earn here back to where they came from.
If we as a country could sustain uncontrolled immigration, there wouldn't be laws against it.
posted on March 25, 2003 09:09:34 AM new
Hel-lo! I live in Florida. There are just a few undocumented aliens here ... ranging from the INS's very conservative estimate of 337,000 up to as high as 700,000. I regularly visit two areas that have become dominated by Mexican immigrants, both legal and otherwise (including my own hometown about an hour west of where I now live.)
My brother, who gets angry if he hears the counter help at Checker's talking to each other in Spanish, would say our hometown has been "ruined." I would strongly disagree, as do my parents. My mom works in a church's outreach ministry to the migrant workers, and she has high admiration for many of them, including people she has some suspicion are illegal. (Side note: It is so strange to hear my mom speaking in Spanish on the phone to someone. At the age of 63, she's picked it up amazingly well and she's nagging Dad to take her to Costa Rica on vacation.)
As far as paying income tax goes ... these people make so little that if their employers were declaring them, the workers would actually qualify for EIC and would pay very little, if any, tax. However, they do pay sales tax, gas tax and most of the other taxes paid by everyone else.
[ edited by Twelvepole on Mar 24, 2003 07:12 PM ]