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thedrifter
07-12-04, 08:44 AM
07-08-2004

From the Editor:

An Outrageous Interruption





By Ed Offley



The dignity, solemnity and grace of a formal military funeral can never be overstated or exaggerated. Its symbolic elements, from the color guard to the uniformed pallbearers, to the firing of three rifle volleys, to the lone bugler playing “Taps,” to the formal presentation of the U.S. flag to next of kin, honor the memory of the fallen and help assuage the grief of the survivors.



I have had the honor of attending several dozen military funerals and memorial services during my military reporting career. This has ranged from a scattering of ashes at sea for a returned Vietnam-era Navy MIA, to a formal interment ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery for a young Army officer killed in Iraq; and the burial with military honors of my own father, a career Air Force pilot.



What has been striking to witness every time is that while the elements of each ceremony rarely differ, there is no sense of sameness in such events. Families and friends and comrades come together in a tight group, grieving and commemorating and sharing fond memories of their lost one. The taut formalism of military protocol not only binds the attendees together, it reminds everyone that the solitary individual going to his or her final rest is not alone, but joining a multitude of comrades who have passed on before.



I say all this to underscore my own sense of personal outrage over what Mexican military authorities did to the family of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Juan Lopez Rangel on July 4. Lopez was born in the town of San Luis de la Paz in central Guanajuato state, but moved to Georgia and became a legal permanent resident in the United States. At 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and was serving in Iraq on June 21 when he died in an ambush in the town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.



Lopez’s family requested that he be buried with full U.S. military honors in his former home town in Mexico.



At this point, the government of Mexico – its Defense Ministry, to be precise – stepped in with ham-handed stupidity, truculently demanding that the U.S. Marine burial party demilitarize itself. Mexican officials, it seem, do not like foreign soldiers bearing military firearms on their soil, even if it is to render honors there. So they banned the presence of the seven-member firing party who would normally fire the three volleys at the end of the ceremony. According to several detailed press reports, the Marines agreed.



But when the funeral party arrived at the graveyard where Cpl. Lopez was to be buried, a Mexican army captain and his troops went ballistic when they saw a four-member color guard, including two Marines bearing inert ceremonial M-14 rifles that cannot be fired. The Washington Post then reported:



“Problems began as the six pallbearers were folding the U.S. flag in preparation to hand it to Lopez’s widow, said [U.S. Embassy spokesman Jim] Dickmeyer, who was present. A Mexican Army captain, backed by at least 10 soldiers in combat uniforms and helmets, demanded to see documents giving the Marines permission to carry the guns in Mexico, he said.



“Dickmeyer said he suggested the captain wait until the ceremony was over to discuss the matter. But the officer continued demanding to see documents and confiscate the guns, even as a U.S. Marine played taps on his bugle, Dickmeyer said. When taps was finished, the color guard turned about-face and marched back to the three embassy vans in which they had arrived. They put the flags and guns in the vehicles. Mexican soldiers stood in front of the vehicles and would not permit them to leave, Dickmeyer said.



Then for 40 minutes, the Mexican troops stood in front of the vehicles to prevent the Marines from leaving. The incident finally ended when the Mexican captain and his troops walked away.



U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza said after the incident, “I am outraged that this would take away from the ceremony honoring U.S. Marine Juan Lopez Rangel, whose family requested that he be buried in his town of birth with full military honors.”



Press accounts suggest that a strong anti-war mood in the Mexican government may have led to the rude encounter between Mexican soldiers and Lopez’ Marine Corps comrades. It has also been averred that emotions have run high in Mexico because about 30 Mexican-born (or born in the United States to Mexican parents) U.S. troops have died in Iraq.



It is tragic that a somber and moving event that symbolized the close historical and cultural ties between Mexico and the United States instead became a demonstration of pettiness and bureaucratic intransigence.



The Mexican government reportedly has now apologized to the United States and Lopez family, but press reports suggest it was a canned and insincere response by the Mexican government to Garza’s stern diplomatic protest.



I would feel better to see a public apology by Mexican Defense Minister Gerardo Vega Garcia or even President Vicente Fox to the family and the U.S. Marine Corps for tarnishing a solemn and moving demonstration of respect by the military service in which Cpl. Lopez served, fought and died.



Ed Offley is Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at dweditor@yahoo.com. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com. © 2004 Ed Offley.


http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=FTE.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=43&rnd=126.23296842340703


Ellie

MillRatUSMC
07-12-04, 09:23 AM
STUPID-TY!
It was callous and heartless beside being an outrageous interruption of Honors given to a United States Marine.
Who was Mexican by birth.
Relations have been strained recently but there wouldn't be a Mexico if the United States had chosen to not aid Juarez against the French by supplying Mexico with arms and volunteers after our little family fight in 1865.
The United States also applied diplomatic presure on Napoleon II.
Resulting on the French leaving Mexico.
So these actions by the Mexican military are all of the above.

Semper Fidelis/Semper Fi
Ricardo

Toby M
07-12-04, 11:22 AM
Ah, more government thinking...the Mexican government can allow hundreds if not thousands of killings, rapes and drug dealing along the border without lifting a finger to stop the violence (let alone stem the flow of illegal immigrants) yet they feel they must take action (and possibly create an international incident) on a funeral for one of their own citizens! The family should have washed their hands of that country and had the Marine burried in the United States.
When will the stupidity stop?

HeavyGunner
07-12-04, 12:01 PM
Next time, perhaps we should include the ceremonial firing squad, the color guard, and, to keep the peace, a reinforced Battalion Landing Team to provide the perimeter security...

Just a thought...

Semper Fi,

Sgt. B.

HardJedi
07-12-04, 01:59 PM
hmmm, isn't there another thread exatly like this one? Not that I mind, just pretty sure I remember it. :D

ANYWAY, hell with them!( and I have nothing against mexicans, by the way, lived with one for the last two years)

I mean REALLY. To HELL with the country of Mexico. What have they ever done for us, and why should we care WHAT they do or do not like? What are they gonna do? invade us? ( oh wait, they already are, one family at a time)

LOL

( ps, most of this post was writtin dripping with a certain amount of sarcasm, and not to be taken too seriously)

Anyway, Why, WHY would ANY government be that callous?