US Citizenship Granted To Marines Killed in Iraq

[Geoff_M]

This was posted on the ABC News site. A small but fitting tribute to a couple of soldiers who gave the ultimate for our country...

Citizenship Granted Two (sic) Marines Killed in Iraq

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. — They died for America as immigrant foreign nationals, but they will be buried as U.S. citizens.

The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services signed papers Wednesday granting posthumous citizenship to Marine Cpl. Jose Angel Garibay and Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, who were killed in combat in Iraq.

The families of the two were not present and the media were not allowed to attend the citizenship signing by the bureau's acting director, Eduardo Aguire.

"Yes, they are officially posthumous citizens. … This was the final step in the administrative process," said bureau spokesman Ron Rogers.

He said "depending on what the families and the Marines want, we will present the certificates to the families."

The two Marines were granted citizenship under President Bush's July 2002 executive order that allows family of military personnel killed under specific conditions, such as war, to apply for posthumous citizenship.

Gutierrez, 22, of Lomita, died March 21 at the port city of Umm Qasr, becoming one of the first casualties of war.

When he was 14, Gutierrez crossed into California after taking trains from Guatemala through Mexico. The orphan found a foster family, attended high school in Southern California and then joined the Marine Corps. He was assigned as an infantry rifleman with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Cardinal Roger Mahony will celebrate a funeral Mass for Gutierrez on Monday at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Catholic Church in Lomita and burial will be in Guatemala, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said.

"We're proud as a family that he was able to become a citizen because that's one of the things he wanted to do. And we are honored," Lillian Cardenas, his foster sister, told The Associated Press.

Gutierrez's body was to remain in Delaware until arrangements between the United States and Guatemala were completed, family members said.

Garibay, 21, of Costa Mesa, died March 23 in Nasiriyah, south of Baghdad. He was a native of Jalisco, Mexico, whose family moved to the United States when he was a baby. Garibay joined the Marines three years ago and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

His family was awaiting the return of his remains. Once returned, the family will hold a memorial service in Costa Mesa.

Several telephone calls by The AP to Camp Pendleton, which is coordinating the citizenship requests, were not immediately returned.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/homefront.html

 

[Deb in IA]

I was going to post this too, Geoff, but you beat me to it . . .


RIP, Corporal Garibay and Lance Corporal Gutierrez . . .

 

[TwinMom7]

...as it should be.

 

[bsnyder]

I had read Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez's story in the L.A. Times, after he was killed in action, and it moved me so much! His foster sister was quoted in that article as saying he joined the Marines to give something back to the country that had given him so much.

I had not heard about Marine Cpl. Jose Angel.

Pass the tissues please!

 

[Mackey Mouse]

God bless them and may they rest in peace... I am not sure I can take much more of this.....please let this be over soon..

Hugs to us all..

 

[nativetxn]

Bless these young men. This made me a little teary

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

I also cried when I saw this on the news last night. One of the family members was so thankful. Ok, so I am crying again!

 

[dandave]

I had seen a marine interviewed on FOX a few weeks ago who did not have citizenship. He had been denied, because he had gotten into some trouble as a youth. That really bothers me. If a person is willing to fight for this country, then that in itself should make him worthy of citizenship. It just doesn't seem right, to me.