Marine Cpl. Jorge A. Gonzalez
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,207~12026~1273853,00.html Slain Marine attended area school
Jorge Gonzalez played soccer at El Monte High, graduated in 2000
By Will Matthews and Jason Kosareff , Staff Writers
RIALTO -- Teachers and students at El Monte High School were numb Wednesday over the death of former student Jorge Gonzalez, a Marine killed in action Sunday in southern Iraq.
"I've been in shock all day,' said soccer coach Ken Steel, who coached Gonzalez, a 2000 graduate of the school.
Gonzalez played on the team with his younger brother Mario. While he spent many games on the bench, he was very supportive of the team.
"He was just a really, really nice kid,' Steel said. "Very devoted to his brother.'
Principal Doug Halvorsen notified students of Gonzalez's death during the morning public address system announcement.
"He was a real good student,' Halvorsen said. "He was a good person.'
Gonzalez had written in his senior year that he wanted to be a Marine, Halvorsen said. School records show he had never been referred for discipline.
"He was a team player kind of kid,' he said. "He didn't bring attention to himself.'
Cpl. Gonzalez was one of seven soldiers killed on Sunday. Americans have seen 24 - according to unofficial tallies - of their own killed since the war in Iraq began.
Residents across the Inland Valley where Gonzalez's family now lives are rallying around the grieving family.
In response to media reports of Gonzalez's death, people across the region Wednesday articulated their desire to do whatever they could to provide comfort to the Gonzalez family and to communicate to them the support of their community.
"We need to give these people our support,' said Letty Andrade, 42, of Alta Loma, who said Wednesday that she planned on sending the Gonzalez family a card expressing her condolences. "For me it is giving that entire family some moral support and some encouragement. There are lots of people who are grieving for that mother today and so maybe she can draw some support from that. My heart goes out to her.'
Lisa Garza, 30, of Rialto, owner of Mabel's Flowers in Rialto, said she would send flowers to the Gonzalez family as a sign of support from the entire community.
"I was thinking just yesterday that I knew soldiers were dying but what were the chances of someone dying here in Rialto?,' Garza said. "I never thought that someone in our small city would die. When I saw it on the television yesterday I was so moved. I just started crying.'
Like Jorge Gonzalez, Garza too is an El Monte High School graduate, something she said increased the connection she felt with the first known soldier with Valley ties to die in the U.S. war with Iraq.
Members of the Gonzalez family indicated this week that Jorge Gonzalez planned on becoming a police officer after his military service, and on Wednesday local law enforcement officers began coordinating donations for the family.
"As peace officers we understand their grief and loss,' said Ray Russo, a motor officer for the Rialto Police Department who, as a member of the department's benevolence association, will be writing a letter to all Rialto police officers asking for donations for the Gonzalez family. "It would be our sincere pleasure to give back to a family that has lost so much.'
Russo said it is of paramount importance for the Gonzalez family to know that their community supports them in their time of loss.
"When someone loses somebody like that I guess they feel a sense of loneliness,' he said. "If we can share in that and take some of that off them and make their loss a little bit less then it seems to me that we should do that.'
Rosa Ray, an officer with the California Highway Patrol and a Rancho Cucamonga resident, said she, too, would be donating some money to the Gonzalez family and would seek contributions from some of her CHP colleagues.
"It killed me to read the story of Jorge's death,' she said. "To see your kid on television like that not knowing what exactly happened is inconceivable to me. I don't know what I would do if that ever happened to my kid.'
State Sen. Nell Soto, D-Ontario, said she was overwhelmed with grief upon reading the story of Gonzalez's death.
Soto said she hopes to be able to visit the Gonzalez family while she is in the district Friday.
"I feel like maybe I should just go see her, put my arms around her and tell her how bad I feel about it,' Soto said of Gonzalez's mother, Rosa. "It is unimaginable to me to have this happen to one of my constituents. He did his duty and he paid the ultimate price. We all have to pray for the family that they find some comfort.'
Soto said there is a saying in the Catholic tradition that says those who die fighting for their country go straight to heaven.
"I like that thought, I like that belief,' Soto said. "I think it helps us to find some sort of comfort. I hope it helps the Gonzalez family. I grieve for her, I grieve for the mother. I have been in tears all day long.'