Valley soldier in Iraq talks to family, students in La Joya via videoconference

LA JOYA — Maj. Jesus Gonzalez missed his 20-year class reunion two weeks ago — he was in Iraq.

But the 1990 La Joya High School graduate was there Wednesday — via satellite — for Veterans Day.

The 17-year U.S. Army veteran is on his fourth tour of duty. It’s his third in Iraq, and he is expected to return in May.

The school administration set a large screen for the videoconference with the faraway alumnus and invited seniors in government and economics classes to participate.

Interim Principal Melinda Flores surprised the soldier by getting his parents, Sullivan City residents Paula and Domingo Gonzalez, to join in on the exchange. The major could hear them but not see them; everyone in the school library — where the system was set up — was able to see and hear him with a slight delay. It was 6 p.m. in Iraq and 8:30 a.m. in La Joya.

“Hello, Son, I am very proud of you,” Paula Gonzalez said in Spanish.

“Thank you, Ma, for your support and your blessings. I love you, too, and I miss you all,” the major replied in Spanish.

“I love you very much,” his father said in Spanish. “We are proud of you for the work you are doing,” he added as his voice cracked with emotion.

The major answered the students’ questions and gratefully accepted their expressions of support.

“It is hard to live in Iraq, especially knowing that your family is back in your hometown,” Maj. Gonzalez said. “The hard thing is to leave them and know they are worried about you.”

Gonzalez recalled that when his daughter learned her daddy was going to be deployed, she became very worried, which is uncommon in such a young child. Jaina turned 10 on Sunday

She and her 5-year-old brother, Jacen, live in Edinburg with their mother.

One student asked the soldier if he had been ambushed. In response, he described how enemy forces ambushed some Afghan troops, prompting him to mount an effort to rescue the group — men he deemed allies — even though he had orders not to enter ambush zones.

“I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m glad I told my daughter that I loved her the last time that I called her,’ because for a while I wasn’t sure I was going to do that again.” Gonzalez said. “Once we got the advantage (over) the enemy and we got the extraction of all our personnel and wounded soldiers, we successfully defended ourselves. When I got home I told my daughter that I loved her, but I didn’t want her to know what had happened.”

The soldier talked about his living conditions in Iraq and the dining and entertainment options there — Subway and a Pizza Hut are available, some bases have movie theaters, and the troops received celebrity visitors on occasion.

“It was my dream doing what I’m doing,” the soldier said in response to a question from senior Bradley Alaniz. “If something happens to me I want (my family) to know that I was happy doing what I was doing and that I did it for them. …

“I appreciate the community’s backing and also continue to ask for the prayers for the soldiers that we’ve lost, and that we conclude this (war) as soon as we can, with the goal being the safety of our country and of our people.”

____

Martha L. Hernández covers Mission, western Hidalgo County and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4846.