← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Faust
Thread ID: 5492 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2003-03-12
2003-03-12 13:26 | User Profile
"U.S. soldier" killed in Kuwait buried... His coffin was draped with Mexican flag!
Rodrigo Gonzalez, a "U.S. soldier" killed in Kuwait was buried Tuesday in Mexico. His coffin, draped in a Mexican flag, was taken to a Roman Catholic church where his family celebrated Mass.
** U.S. Soldier Is Buried in Native Mexico
By JOHN SEVIGNY Associated Press Writer
March 11, 2003, 4:11 PM EST
SABINAS HIDALGO, Mexico -- A U.S. soldier killed in Kuwait was buried Tuesday in his native Mexico, a country still struggling to decide whether it will support a war with Iraq.
Spc. Rodrigo Gonzalez, 26, had been sent to the Persian Gulf to prepare for a possible war. His Feb. 25 death in a helicopter crash during training was featured prominently in Mexican media.
Born in this town 85 miles south of the Texas border, Gonzalez moved to San Antonio with his family as a toddler.
On Tuesday, his coffin, draped in a Mexican flag, was taken to a Roman Catholic church in Sabinas Hidalgo where his family celebrated Mass.
"This is where he came from, and this is where my parents decided he should return," said his brother Ramiro Gonzalez, a 29-year-old U.S. Army recruiter in Laredo, Texas.
After the service, residents gathered to watch as a black hearse carried the body to a desert graveyard. Many quietly debated a possible war with Iraq as the funeral procession passed.
Mexico is a member of the U.N. Security Council, and has not said how it would vote on a U.S.-backed resolution which authorizes war anytime after March 17 unless Iraq proves it has disarmed.
Recent polls show a majority of Mexicans oppose war with Iraq, but some fear a vote against military action would strain relations with the United States, Mexico's largest trading partner.
All three of Gonzalez's brothers are in the U.S. Army. As well as Ramiro, he had a twin, Ricardo Gonzalez, who is an Army combat medic stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y. His younger brother, 19-year-old Rolando Gonzalez, is stationed at West Point as an operating room technician.
Even though he lived in San Antonio, Gonzalez spent his summers in Sabinas Hidalgo. Neighbors said they watched him grow up playing football with his brothers in front of their family's home.
Speaking to the 500 people gathered at his brother's grave, Gonzalez said Rodrigo would be remembered.
"We ask that you never forget him, that you have his memory in your heart," he said.
As the coffin was lowered into the ground, red, white, and green balloons -- the colors of Mexico's flag -- were released into air.
Copyright é 2003, The Associated Press
url: [url=http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-mexico-soldier-buried,0,705213.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines]http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wo...world-headlines[/url]
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2003-03-12 14:16 | User Profile
Was Gonzales a legal resident of the U.S.??
BTW--The red, white, and green balloons at his funeral is "tres gauche"!! Then again, they're Mexicans after all...
2003-03-14 23:18 | User Profile
This is not what it seems.
To join the U.S. military one does not need to be a U.S. citizen, a legal U.S. resident, or even desire to be one. There are currently many citizens of European countries serving in the U.S. military (in combat arms), as well as Haitians, Jamaicans, et al. It ain't your Daddy's (or Uncle Sam's) military anymore. But alas, this is all to be expected. Gone are the days the U.S. military was used to protect America, Americans, and American interests. Sadly, the modern U.S. military is merely a bloodthirsty mercenary force ready to furthur the interests of globalism and the cabal of hooked-nose international social engineers.
2003-03-16 14:09 | User Profile
J.R.C. is correct about the enlistment procedures used today. As the U.S. tries to emulate the Roman Empire of old, it finds itself using the methods of Rome in terms of recruitment and citizenship, and at the end will itself suffer the same fate as the Romans.
This is one of many steps to make the U.S. Army the army of the U.N. before this is over.