Based: Ft. Bragg, N.C.
782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division
Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom
Died: March 29, 2007
North Kabul, Afghanistan
Engaged
Gender: Male
Hometown: San Jacinto
High School: San Jacinto High (San Jacinto)
Burial: Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside
Growing up in Escondido and then San Jacinto, Calif., Agustin Gutierrez was so close to his twin, Jose, and their two-years-younger nephew, Elvis Mendoza, that the rest of their extended family called the boys the Three Musketeers. Inseparable and always there for one another, the three were shy around everyone else.
So it surprised the family when, shortly after graduating from San Jacinto High School in 2005, Gutierrez joined the Army. It was the first time the Three Musketeers had been separated since the twins were 8 and moved in with their oldest sister, Cecilia Mendoza, and her young family.
…The 19-year-old Army specialist visited his family over the holidays before shipping out to Afghanistan on Jan. 22. He was cheerful and enjoying his new life, Mendoza said. Then her worst fear came true.
On March 29, Gutierrez died of injuries suffered a day earlier when the vehicle he was traveling in near Kabul overturned. Also killed in the accident was Sgt. Edmund McDonald, 25, of Casco, Maine.
A mechanic assigned to the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, Gutierrez had volunteered to be a gunner in the convoy that day. His sergeant told the family that Gutierrez was always one of the first to volunteer for extra duty. ...
In addition to his sister and twin, Gutierrez is survived by his parents, Francisco and Elvira Gutierrez; and four older brothers, Alberto, Ricardo, Rogelio and Ruperto.
Gutierrez had planned to come home to San Jacinto in June to join his twin for their 20th birthday and to reunite the Three Musketeers.
Read the entire LA Times article about Army Specialist Agustin Gutierrez here, find more at Military Times and visit Specialist Gutierrez's Guest Book.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sgt. Edmund McDonald
No comments:
Post a Comment