N. RODRIGUEZ RAMIREZ
by Jonnelle Marte and Matthew P. Collette, Globe Correspondents | June 26, 2008
REVERE - Resting his arms on his thighs, his eyes tired from grief, Nelson Rodriguez sat in a relative's home yesterday and recalled how his son had found another purpose in Afghanistan.
Amongst barefoot children he had met in the war, children whose faces lit up when he gave them something as simple as a pen or a snack, Sergeant Nelson Rodriguez Ramirez had his faith in his service renewed, his father said yesterday. "He didn't like war, but it was in his heart to be there and protect those kids."
I guess he has to think that, doesn't he?
And how come this ISN'T PAGE ONE material, Globe?
Yeah, I think we ALL KNOW WHY it isn't, huh?
Saturday, Rodriguez Ramirez was riding in a truck when it struck an improvised explosive device, killing him and three other soldiers.
The 22-year-old father of two, who had been home for his second daughter's birth in January, had plans to visit his family in Revere for his 23d birthday on Aug. 13. His wife, Moraima, and their baby daughter, Kiara, were going to travel from their home in Rochester, N.Y. for the bash.
He would have been home for good in January, when he was going to take steps to join the Coast Guard and study to be a pilot, said his father, who lives in Revere.
"That all fell through when this happened," he said.
Rodriguez Ramirez is among 527 servicemen and women who have been killed in Operation Enduring Freedom, said Lieutenant Colonel Les A. Melnyk....
At the urging of his family, Rodriguez Ramirez enrolled at Westover Job Corps in Chicopee and earned his GED. He took a few computer classes in the Boston area, but decided to move to Niagara Falls, N.Y., to be with the woman he loved. That relationship led to the birth of his first daughter, Ariana, now 4 years old.
To make sure she had everything she needed, he enlisted in the Army National Guard in 2003....
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Those guardsman told or ever think they would be used for these illegal occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan?
Is that what you bargained for when you signed up?
