thedrifter
02-16-06, 06:37 AM
Tent Fire in Iraq Claims Life of Va. Soldier, 26
By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 16, 2006; A21
Spec. Felipe J. Garcia-Villareal lived for the U.S. military. He joined the Navy ROTC at Herndon High School, then the Marines as soon as he graduated. When his stint was up and life as a civilian turned out not to be all it could be, he re-upped with the Army.
"It was his passion," said his brother Nestor, who had joined the Marines a year earlier. "It was in his blood."
Now Garcia, 26, has died for the U.S. military. On Feb. 9, the tent where he slept guarding supplies in the Iraqi desert near Ramadi caught fire, leaving second- and third-degree burns over 76 percent of his body. He died Feb. 12 at Washington Hospital Center.
The fire, an accident thought to have begun as an electrical fire, is under investigation.
Last Saturday, barely hanging onto life, Garcia was being flown from Iraq via Germany to the Army's burn center in Texas when his condition worsened. The plane, also carrying his wife, Magaly, made an emergency landing at Andrews Air Force Base, and Garcia was taken to Washington Hospital Center's burn unit.
His wife and his brother, of Burke, were with him when he died not long afterward.
"He was so strong," Nestor Garcia said. "According to the doctors, he was supposed to be dead in Iraq. And he had the will to come all the way back here and say goodbye to his family."
Felipe Garcia was born in La Paz, Bolivia. He and his brother, who is a year older, were best friends. They shared a bed until they were 10 and 11, a room until they were 18 and 19.
When Felipe was 15 and his mother was dying of cancer, his father, who had immigrated years before to the United States, brought him and Nestor to Fairfax. Neither spoke English. They lived with their aunt, Anna Garcia, went to school and joined the ROTC. Felipe worked part time at Home Depot in Chantilly. Almost immediately, the boys began sending money home to Bolivia to help the family.
After graduation, both brothers joined the Marines, Nestor in 1998 and Felipe in 1999.
"To him and to me, to join the service was a form of repaying this country for all the opportunities that we were given," Nestor Garcia said. They both became U.S. citizens.
During the invasion of Iraq, Felipe worked as a ground supply clerk at Camp Pendleton in California. When his tour was up in 2003, Felipe, who had always wanted to be a doctor, decided to move to Bolivia to study dentistry. There, he bought his sisters a house and married his longtime sweetheart, Magaly.
But unhappy with civilian life, he returned to the United States with Magaly and tried to reenlist in the Marines. He had broken his leg badly in Bolivia. "Doctors said he'd never play soccer again or run, but he did," Nestor Garcia said. The Marines wouldn't take him. The Army did.
Last summer, he joined the 54th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade, based in Bamberg, Germany. He deployed to Iraq in November.
He is the battalion's first casualty.
The family will take his body home to Bolivia for burial. Nestor Garcia said he cannot conjure a future without his other self.
"Life without him? Empty," he said. "Empty."
Researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.
Ellie
By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 16, 2006; A21
Spec. Felipe J. Garcia-Villareal lived for the U.S. military. He joined the Navy ROTC at Herndon High School, then the Marines as soon as he graduated. When his stint was up and life as a civilian turned out not to be all it could be, he re-upped with the Army.
"It was his passion," said his brother Nestor, who had joined the Marines a year earlier. "It was in his blood."
Now Garcia, 26, has died for the U.S. military. On Feb. 9, the tent where he slept guarding supplies in the Iraqi desert near Ramadi caught fire, leaving second- and third-degree burns over 76 percent of his body. He died Feb. 12 at Washington Hospital Center.
The fire, an accident thought to have begun as an electrical fire, is under investigation.
Last Saturday, barely hanging onto life, Garcia was being flown from Iraq via Germany to the Army's burn center in Texas when his condition worsened. The plane, also carrying his wife, Magaly, made an emergency landing at Andrews Air Force Base, and Garcia was taken to Washington Hospital Center's burn unit.
His wife and his brother, of Burke, were with him when he died not long afterward.
"He was so strong," Nestor Garcia said. "According to the doctors, he was supposed to be dead in Iraq. And he had the will to come all the way back here and say goodbye to his family."
Felipe Garcia was born in La Paz, Bolivia. He and his brother, who is a year older, were best friends. They shared a bed until they were 10 and 11, a room until they were 18 and 19.
When Felipe was 15 and his mother was dying of cancer, his father, who had immigrated years before to the United States, brought him and Nestor to Fairfax. Neither spoke English. They lived with their aunt, Anna Garcia, went to school and joined the ROTC. Felipe worked part time at Home Depot in Chantilly. Almost immediately, the boys began sending money home to Bolivia to help the family.
After graduation, both brothers joined the Marines, Nestor in 1998 and Felipe in 1999.
"To him and to me, to join the service was a form of repaying this country for all the opportunities that we were given," Nestor Garcia said. They both became U.S. citizens.
During the invasion of Iraq, Felipe worked as a ground supply clerk at Camp Pendleton in California. When his tour was up in 2003, Felipe, who had always wanted to be a doctor, decided to move to Bolivia to study dentistry. There, he bought his sisters a house and married his longtime sweetheart, Magaly.
But unhappy with civilian life, he returned to the United States with Magaly and tried to reenlist in the Marines. He had broken his leg badly in Bolivia. "Doctors said he'd never play soccer again or run, but he did," Nestor Garcia said. The Marines wouldn't take him. The Army did.
Last summer, he joined the 54th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade, based in Bamberg, Germany. He deployed to Iraq in November.
He is the battalion's first casualty.
The family will take his body home to Bolivia for burial. Nestor Garcia said he cannot conjure a future without his other self.
"Life without him? Empty," he said. "Empty."
Researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.
Ellie