Mission soldier killed in Iraq

MISSION -- A 21-year-old U.S. Army explosives expert from Mission was killed Tuesday morning in Iraq when insurgents fired upon his patrol vehicle, according to family members.

Pfc. Alex Gonzalez of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Engineers died from injuries sustained when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his armored personnel carrier. It was not immediately clear what other casualties his unit may have suffered in the attack.

Outside his parents' Mission home, where Gonzalez's truck was still parked in the driveway, distraught relatives gathered Tuesday to console one another and grieve - and to wonder why Gonzalez, who was quick to joke and eager to tell stories, had to die.

"This needs to stop. (Iraqis) don't want us there," his uncle Javier Rodriguez said. "If (President) Bush is so invested in not (withdraw-ing troops), then he should send his daughters there to feel the pain we feel."

Gonzalez, a former Mission High School football and baseball player, was on his first deployment to Iraq. In the war zone, he was often on the front lines disassembling improvised explosive devices - roadside bombs that have claimed hundreds of American lives.

He joined the Army to follow in the footsteps of his father, who had been a paratrooper, family members said. Gonzalez, who was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, was always quick to tell stories and seemed to want the Army experience for the romance and the adventure.

"When he came to visit he couldn't wait to go back. He loved the Army," said his cousin and good friend Arturo Casanova Jr. "And then he got (to Iraq). ... Of course, everything changed."

Casanova, Gonzalez and three of their cousins were inseparable most of their lives. Gonzalez's large and tight-knit family live mostly in Mission and the cousins were like brothers to him, family members said. Gonzalez lived with his three younger sisters, the oldest of which is 14.

He was last in the Rio Grande Valley while on leave in late January to see his family and celebrate his 21st birthday. It was the last time his family saw him.

"He was a prankster and a jokester," his uncle Armando Rodriguez said. "But he always cared about everybody. He never wanted to offend anybody."

After his four years in the military, Gonzalez wanted to become a Mission police officer, family members said. While home on leave in January, Mission police Chief Leo Longoria encouraged him to pursue that dream. The two knew each other through the chief's late daughter Amanda, who was friends with Gonzalez.

"He was a great young man and I was really fond of him," Longoria said. "I would (have done) everything possible I could to assist him and help him and guide him in his pursuit of being a police officer."

Gonzalez is the second soldier from Mission killed this year in Iraq. Mission native Cpl. Jose "Joe" Rubio, 24, was one of four men killed in a bomb attack in March.

Since the Iraq war began in 2003, a total of 23 other service members from the Valley have died in Iraq. Overall, the United States has lost more than 4,000 service members in the conflict.

Funeral and vigil arrangements were still pending as of Tuesday night. The family is unsure when Gonzalez's remains will be re-turned to the Valley.
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Sean Gaffney covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4434.