thedrifter
08-12-07, 07:46 AM
Aug. 11, 2007, 2:04AM
Gustavo Alemán Jr., local Marine who refused to give up military career after cancer diagnosis
By MELANIE MARKLEY
Houston Chronicle
Gustavo "Gus" Alemán Jr. was a Marine staff sergeant serving in Fallujah, Iraq, when he received orders to return to his hometown of Houston to work in the recruiting office.
It was the best news imaginable for the career military man. But his joy was short-lived.
In a routine physical before his transfer, Alemán was diagnosed with leukemia. Instead of returning to Houston, he was sent to San Diego, where his battle with cancer lasted more than two years.
Alemán, who died Aug. 2, was laid to rest Thursday at Brookside Memorial Park in Houston with full military honors. He was 33.
Alemán loved being a Marine, said his sister, Rosa DeLeón, of Channelview.
In fact, when his disease made it difficult for him to work, he refused to retire, she said. He wanted to stay on active duty until he died.
"He could barely walk, but he would get up, get dressed and go to work because he wanted to be there," she said. "His whole identity was as a Marine."
Alemán's dedication to the Corps earned him a promotion to gunnery sergeant on Feb. 1, one day after he received his second stem cell transplant.
The ceremony was scheduled to take place in his hospital room in La Jolla, Calif. But so many Marines and family members showed up that the ceremony was moved to the hallway in front of the nurses' station.
Although Alemán was tired and weak from his treatment and his thinning body could no longer fill out his uniform, he stood at attention during the ceremony and asked his mother to pin his new chevrons on his collar.
"I get goose bumps just remembering," DeLeón said. "I was just overwhelmed with admiration for him."
An honored recruiter
Sgt. Kevin Jockell, who served with Alemán in San Diego, said his fellow Marine was proud of his many accomplishments in the Corps.
In the weeks before his death, Jockell said, Alemán was intent on getting all his commemorative plaques hung on the staircase walls at his home.
One of the plaques honored him for his success as a recruiter while he was assigned to the Houston office between December 1999 and April 2003. Jockell said that during one two-year period, Alemán recruited 78 new Marines.
Laura Quiroga of Spring said she and her husband, Julian, were close friends with Alemán.
She described him as an honest, caring, encouraging man who was always devoted to his family and made friends wherever he went.
"He was always full of life," she said.
Alemán grew up in Houston and attended North Shore High School.
He graduated in 1993 and immediately made it known that he wanted to join the Marines. But his parents urged him instead to try college.
He attended San Jacinto College for one semester before convincing his parents that it wasn't for him. He joined the Marines in 1994 and decided to make it his career.
In addition to his sister, Alemán is survived by his wife, Rosario, and three children, Miguel, Daniel and Gabriel, all of San Diego; parents Gustavo and Rosa Alemán of Channelview; brother David Alemán; another sister, Brenda Garza, of Channelview, and grandparents Ambrocio and Maria Luisa Gonzalez of Monterrey, Mexico.
melanie.markley@chron.com
Ellie
Gustavo Alemán Jr., local Marine who refused to give up military career after cancer diagnosis
By MELANIE MARKLEY
Houston Chronicle
Gustavo "Gus" Alemán Jr. was a Marine staff sergeant serving in Fallujah, Iraq, when he received orders to return to his hometown of Houston to work in the recruiting office.
It was the best news imaginable for the career military man. But his joy was short-lived.
In a routine physical before his transfer, Alemán was diagnosed with leukemia. Instead of returning to Houston, he was sent to San Diego, where his battle with cancer lasted more than two years.
Alemán, who died Aug. 2, was laid to rest Thursday at Brookside Memorial Park in Houston with full military honors. He was 33.
Alemán loved being a Marine, said his sister, Rosa DeLeón, of Channelview.
In fact, when his disease made it difficult for him to work, he refused to retire, she said. He wanted to stay on active duty until he died.
"He could barely walk, but he would get up, get dressed and go to work because he wanted to be there," she said. "His whole identity was as a Marine."
Alemán's dedication to the Corps earned him a promotion to gunnery sergeant on Feb. 1, one day after he received his second stem cell transplant.
The ceremony was scheduled to take place in his hospital room in La Jolla, Calif. But so many Marines and family members showed up that the ceremony was moved to the hallway in front of the nurses' station.
Although Alemán was tired and weak from his treatment and his thinning body could no longer fill out his uniform, he stood at attention during the ceremony and asked his mother to pin his new chevrons on his collar.
"I get goose bumps just remembering," DeLeón said. "I was just overwhelmed with admiration for him."
An honored recruiter
Sgt. Kevin Jockell, who served with Alemán in San Diego, said his fellow Marine was proud of his many accomplishments in the Corps.
In the weeks before his death, Jockell said, Alemán was intent on getting all his commemorative plaques hung on the staircase walls at his home.
One of the plaques honored him for his success as a recruiter while he was assigned to the Houston office between December 1999 and April 2003. Jockell said that during one two-year period, Alemán recruited 78 new Marines.
Laura Quiroga of Spring said she and her husband, Julian, were close friends with Alemán.
She described him as an honest, caring, encouraging man who was always devoted to his family and made friends wherever he went.
"He was always full of life," she said.
Alemán grew up in Houston and attended North Shore High School.
He graduated in 1993 and immediately made it known that he wanted to join the Marines. But his parents urged him instead to try college.
He attended San Jacinto College for one semester before convincing his parents that it wasn't for him. He joined the Marines in 1994 and decided to make it his career.
In addition to his sister, Alemán is survived by his wife, Rosario, and three children, Miguel, Daniel and Gabriel, all of San Diego; parents Gustavo and Rosa Alemán of Channelview; brother David Alemán; another sister, Brenda Garza, of Channelview, and grandparents Ambrocio and Maria Luisa Gonzalez of Monterrey, Mexico.
melanie.markley@chron.com
Ellie