thedrifter
09-13-07, 06:23 AM
Marines from San Jose, Redding killed in Iraq, Afghanistan
Erin Allday,John Coté, Chronicle Staff Writers
Thursday, September 13, 2007
(09-12) 19:29 PDT San Francisco -- Two Marines from Northern California were killed this week, one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Cpl. Carlos E. Gilorozco, 23, of San Jose was killed Monday while on a combat mission in Anbar province in Iraq, and Travis Woods, 21, of Redding, died in Afghanistan when a bomb exploded Sept. 9 under the vehicle he was riding in.
Gilorozco, who was on his second tour in Iraq, had been scheduled to return to the United States in November. Woods was only two weeks away from finishing his tour in Afghanistan.
Gilorozco came to the United States with his parents from Bogota, Colombia, when he was 7 years old, said Santiago Molano, a family friend who has know Gilorozco since the Marine was 7. After attending Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Gilorozco was set on joining the Marines.
"That was his dream," Molano said. "He wanted to do it."
Gilorozco was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Gilorozco had another four months for his service to be completed, the family said.
He was ready to return home to meet his 2-month old son and pursue his next dream of becoming a San Jose police officer.
Gilorozco's wife, Esmeralda, whom he met at a Cinco de Mayo parade in San Jose, had been anxious for her husband to see their son in person, the family said.
"She can't believe he's gone," Molano said. "She's lost. She doesn't know what they are going to do."
Travis Woods, who was also on his second tour - he'd spent the first in Iraq - had recently called his mother in Redding to tell her to stop sending care packages because he was coming home.
"He just wanted to surf. I think he couldn't wait to get back and be on the waves," said his mother, Stacy Woods. "They have quite a bit of money when they get back from these tours, and I'm sure he would have gone through it quickly. He's 21, he would have had fun."
Woods was a corporal assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, San Diego County.
He was a passionate and athletic young man who signed up with the Marines during his senior year in high school, his family said. He had the same group of friends from kindergarten through high school, and he regularly visited his grandparents in Mount Shasta for long weekends snowboarding with his buddies.
He didn't do anything halfway, his family said. On Wednesday the family was riffling through old photos, shots of Woods flying his BMX bike in crazy flips and jumps into a lake.
If he was going to tackle something, he did it with determination, said his grandmother, Colleen Aquila.
"He had the most incredible smile and blue eyes that matched the sky," Aquila said. "And his personality, his presence - he was one of those individuals who could walk into a room and people gravitated to him. He was just phenomenal, very respectful, very fun-loving."
Woods died in an attack that wounded three other Marines.
His family said he was ready to come home. He didn't like to talk about his first tour in Iraq, and he wasn't happy to be overseas again in Afghanistan, but he was determined to finish his duty, his mother said.
"Being a Marine, sometimes I think he regretted it," Stacy Woods said. "I don't think he wanted to be in Afghanistan, but it was his job, and he was going to see it through. He was going to do it to the best of his ability."
E-mail the writers at eallday@sfchronicle.com and jcote@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Ellie
Erin Allday,John Coté, Chronicle Staff Writers
Thursday, September 13, 2007
(09-12) 19:29 PDT San Francisco -- Two Marines from Northern California were killed this week, one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Cpl. Carlos E. Gilorozco, 23, of San Jose was killed Monday while on a combat mission in Anbar province in Iraq, and Travis Woods, 21, of Redding, died in Afghanistan when a bomb exploded Sept. 9 under the vehicle he was riding in.
Gilorozco, who was on his second tour in Iraq, had been scheduled to return to the United States in November. Woods was only two weeks away from finishing his tour in Afghanistan.
Gilorozco came to the United States with his parents from Bogota, Colombia, when he was 7 years old, said Santiago Molano, a family friend who has know Gilorozco since the Marine was 7. After attending Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Gilorozco was set on joining the Marines.
"That was his dream," Molano said. "He wanted to do it."
Gilorozco was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Gilorozco had another four months for his service to be completed, the family said.
He was ready to return home to meet his 2-month old son and pursue his next dream of becoming a San Jose police officer.
Gilorozco's wife, Esmeralda, whom he met at a Cinco de Mayo parade in San Jose, had been anxious for her husband to see their son in person, the family said.
"She can't believe he's gone," Molano said. "She's lost. She doesn't know what they are going to do."
Travis Woods, who was also on his second tour - he'd spent the first in Iraq - had recently called his mother in Redding to tell her to stop sending care packages because he was coming home.
"He just wanted to surf. I think he couldn't wait to get back and be on the waves," said his mother, Stacy Woods. "They have quite a bit of money when they get back from these tours, and I'm sure he would have gone through it quickly. He's 21, he would have had fun."
Woods was a corporal assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, San Diego County.
He was a passionate and athletic young man who signed up with the Marines during his senior year in high school, his family said. He had the same group of friends from kindergarten through high school, and he regularly visited his grandparents in Mount Shasta for long weekends snowboarding with his buddies.
He didn't do anything halfway, his family said. On Wednesday the family was riffling through old photos, shots of Woods flying his BMX bike in crazy flips and jumps into a lake.
If he was going to tackle something, he did it with determination, said his grandmother, Colleen Aquila.
"He had the most incredible smile and blue eyes that matched the sky," Aquila said. "And his personality, his presence - he was one of those individuals who could walk into a room and people gravitated to him. He was just phenomenal, very respectful, very fun-loving."
Woods died in an attack that wounded three other Marines.
His family said he was ready to come home. He didn't like to talk about his first tour in Iraq, and he wasn't happy to be overseas again in Afghanistan, but he was determined to finish his duty, his mother said.
"Being a Marine, sometimes I think he regretted it," Stacy Woods said. "I don't think he wanted to be in Afghanistan, but it was his job, and he was going to see it through. He was going to do it to the best of his ability."
E-mail the writers at eallday@sfchronicle.com and jcote@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Ellie