Tragedy

Thunder6 (a US soldier blogging from Iraq) blogged One of our soldiers was murdered yesterday. He didn't expire on the battlefield. He didn't die here in Iraq. He was back home in California for the birth of his first child.

Somehow that makes it infinitely worse.

Please keep his family in your prayers.

Kit Jarrell blogged Specialist Jorge Estrada was in Iraq, serving with Major K and Thunder6. He was lucky enough to make it through the combat in Iraq long enough to get home on emergency leave to see his wife give birth to their new baby, who joined his wife’s other child by a previous relationship. Last night, three days after seeing his daughter born, Estrada was murdered by her former boyfriend over visitation rights.

Major K writes:

In a war you expect to lose people. It is a hazard of the job for which you prepare yourself from the beginning. It might be someone in the unit that you don’t know, someone that you do know, or it may even be you. You keep that knowledge with you always, so that you may soldier on when it happens. You expect it from all of the arhabi’s dirty tricks; IED’s, ambushes, suicide bombers, etc. You do not expect it from street punks while you are home on leave…

…Jorge was a great Soldier and communications specialist. He was the total package; tough, disciplined, cheerful, a good marksman, and one of the few guys in the commo section that could work wonders with both encrypted radios and computers. I was telling our Operations Officer, Major D. tonight at dinner that he was the type of soldier that if every one in the unit was like him, a leader would never have any problems. Major D. responded that if one tenth of your soldiers were like him, that would still be the case. He made everyone around him better, just by example, and without fanfare or flamboyance. He was the consummate quiet professional. He never complained, usually because he was too busy cracking jokes while getting the job done…

…He was also the quality of man that his killer could never be. Recently married, Jorge was home on leave for the birth of his daughter, who is now 5 days old. His wife had another daughter from a previous relationship with the killer, that Jorge was raising as his own. He was that type of guy. He did right by his woman, right by his kids, even when they weren’t his, and right by his country. He went above and beyond the call in every regard. I know that had he perceived a threat from this scumbag that sucker-shot him, I would not be writing this post now, because that scumbag would be in the hospital or jail, and Specialist Estrada would still be enjoying his leave with his wife and daughters.

He was expected back here in the sandbox about two weeks from now. I will miss him as will all of us here. I pray that he rests well in Heaven, that his family finds peace, and that his murderer receives swift and severe justice.

My prayers are with Jorge's family, and I want to thank Major K, Thunder6, and all of the other fine soldiers serving in Iraq and Afganistan.