thedrifter
09-26-07, 06:13 AM
Francisco A. Martinez Flores: Fallen soldier missed citizenship by months
Stephen Wall Staff Writer
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
DUARTE - Pfc. Francisco A. Martinez Flores held the key to a long-coveted dream, but he couldn't quite open the door.Just two weeks shy of becoming a U.S. citizen, Martinez Flores, 21, died in Iraq on behalf of his adopted homeland.
Martinez Flores was with two other Marines trained locally Staff Sgt. Donald C. May and Lance Cpl. Patrick T. O'Day who also were killed in action March 25 when their tank plunged off a bridge and overturned into the Euphrates River during a blinding sandstorm.
All were members of the 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division from the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center.
"He loved the United States so much," his mother, Martha Martinez, said in Spanish while sitting in the living room of her home in a working-class neighborhood of Duarte. "He was from Mexico, but he was fighting for America and its ideals."
Martinez Flores is among the growing legions of so-called "green-card soldiers," members of the armed forces who are legal permanent residents but not citizens. Undocumented immigrants can't join the military.
There are about 37,000 noncitizens serving in the military, an increase from 28,000 in 2000, according to government officials.
President Bush signed an executive order last year reducing the waiting period for military personnel to become citizens. Normally, one has to live in the United States for five years after getting a green card before applying for citizenship.
For military members serving in combat roles, the wait is now an average of three months, said Francisco Arcaute, spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, formerly known as the INS.
Between July and February, 5,441 military personnel applied to become citizens, Arcaute said.
Half of the first 10 Californians killed in the war were not citizens.
Two Marines who died in combat Cpl. Jose Garibay of Costa Mesa and Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez of Lomita won posthumous citizenship on Wednesday.
Martinez Flores is not eligible for the same honor unless a member of his immediate family applies on his behalf, Arcaute said.
Posthumous citizenship is purely ceremonial and does not provide sponsorship benefits, he said.
Martha Martinez said her son, who wanted to become a police officer, should be granted automatic citizenship.
"I think he deserves it," she said from her home decorated with flowers and cards and Mexican and U.S. flags draped outside. "He respected this country enough to make the ultimate sacrifice."
Despite accepting their son's decision to join the military, Martha Martinez and her husband have mixed feelings about the war with Iraq.
"I don't support the war, but we have to finish what we started," said Samuel Martinez, 44, who came to the United States from Guadalajara, Mexico.
"Pancho," as his eldest of four children was affectionately known, was 3 years old when his parents brought him to California.
"They need to stop all this suffering now, so many innocent people don't end up dead like my son," said Martha Martinez, 42.
While thankful for the expressions of sympathy, friends and relatives wonder if the admiration for a fallen hero will remain once the bombing stops.
"We are showing that we come here to make this nation a better place," said Paulino M. Alvarez, a family friend whose son is serving in the Marines and was in the Boy Scouts with Martinez Flores. "We come here to work, pay taxes and serve our country like Pancho, not to cause trouble."
The Rev. Edmund Gomez, a priest at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Colton, said about 80 percent of his congregation is of Mexican or Central-American descent. At least five families have children fighting overseas, he said.
"Since the Civil War, we've used immigrants to bolster the military," Gomez said. "We're a hot-and-cold country when it comes to immigrants. They're appreciated for a couple days and later on, something will happen and they will be seen as outsiders no matter how much service they gave to their country."
Capt. John Oliver, a Redlands-based Army recruiter, said many Latinos are grateful for the opportunities this country has given them.
"They have a sense of gratitude to the country that is missing from other sectors of society," Oliver said. "For young Hispanic men and women, service to country is such a big motivator."
In Mexico, the U.S. Embassy has received hundreds of requests from people offering to fight for the United States in exchange for American citizenship.
The calls kept coming even after repeated statements by embassy officials that the only noncitizens who can join the U.S. military are legal permanent residents with green cards.
Alicia Nava, 18, is a green-card holder who can't wait to leave for Army boot camp in North Carolina later this month. Military service will allow her to become a citizen in six months instead of two years and provide her with money for law school.
"It's a chance to give thanks to the country that has given me the opportunity to finish high school and open doors to college and be what I want to be," said Nava, a San Bernardino resident who came to the United States at age 5 from Jalisco, Mexico. "They keep telling me it's a crazy thing to do. I think it's something I will look back on and be proud that I did."
This story was published April 4, 2003.
Ellie
Stephen Wall Staff Writer
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
DUARTE - Pfc. Francisco A. Martinez Flores held the key to a long-coveted dream, but he couldn't quite open the door.Just two weeks shy of becoming a U.S. citizen, Martinez Flores, 21, died in Iraq on behalf of his adopted homeland.
Martinez Flores was with two other Marines trained locally Staff Sgt. Donald C. May and Lance Cpl. Patrick T. O'Day who also were killed in action March 25 when their tank plunged off a bridge and overturned into the Euphrates River during a blinding sandstorm.
All were members of the 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division from the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center.
"He loved the United States so much," his mother, Martha Martinez, said in Spanish while sitting in the living room of her home in a working-class neighborhood of Duarte. "He was from Mexico, but he was fighting for America and its ideals."
Martinez Flores is among the growing legions of so-called "green-card soldiers," members of the armed forces who are legal permanent residents but not citizens. Undocumented immigrants can't join the military.
There are about 37,000 noncitizens serving in the military, an increase from 28,000 in 2000, according to government officials.
President Bush signed an executive order last year reducing the waiting period for military personnel to become citizens. Normally, one has to live in the United States for five years after getting a green card before applying for citizenship.
For military members serving in combat roles, the wait is now an average of three months, said Francisco Arcaute, spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, formerly known as the INS.
Between July and February, 5,441 military personnel applied to become citizens, Arcaute said.
Half of the first 10 Californians killed in the war were not citizens.
Two Marines who died in combat Cpl. Jose Garibay of Costa Mesa and Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez of Lomita won posthumous citizenship on Wednesday.
Martinez Flores is not eligible for the same honor unless a member of his immediate family applies on his behalf, Arcaute said.
Posthumous citizenship is purely ceremonial and does not provide sponsorship benefits, he said.
Martha Martinez said her son, who wanted to become a police officer, should be granted automatic citizenship.
"I think he deserves it," she said from her home decorated with flowers and cards and Mexican and U.S. flags draped outside. "He respected this country enough to make the ultimate sacrifice."
Despite accepting their son's decision to join the military, Martha Martinez and her husband have mixed feelings about the war with Iraq.
"I don't support the war, but we have to finish what we started," said Samuel Martinez, 44, who came to the United States from Guadalajara, Mexico.
"Pancho," as his eldest of four children was affectionately known, was 3 years old when his parents brought him to California.
"They need to stop all this suffering now, so many innocent people don't end up dead like my son," said Martha Martinez, 42.
While thankful for the expressions of sympathy, friends and relatives wonder if the admiration for a fallen hero will remain once the bombing stops.
"We are showing that we come here to make this nation a better place," said Paulino M. Alvarez, a family friend whose son is serving in the Marines and was in the Boy Scouts with Martinez Flores. "We come here to work, pay taxes and serve our country like Pancho, not to cause trouble."
The Rev. Edmund Gomez, a priest at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Colton, said about 80 percent of his congregation is of Mexican or Central-American descent. At least five families have children fighting overseas, he said.
"Since the Civil War, we've used immigrants to bolster the military," Gomez said. "We're a hot-and-cold country when it comes to immigrants. They're appreciated for a couple days and later on, something will happen and they will be seen as outsiders no matter how much service they gave to their country."
Capt. John Oliver, a Redlands-based Army recruiter, said many Latinos are grateful for the opportunities this country has given them.
"They have a sense of gratitude to the country that is missing from other sectors of society," Oliver said. "For young Hispanic men and women, service to country is such a big motivator."
In Mexico, the U.S. Embassy has received hundreds of requests from people offering to fight for the United States in exchange for American citizenship.
The calls kept coming even after repeated statements by embassy officials that the only noncitizens who can join the U.S. military are legal permanent residents with green cards.
Alicia Nava, 18, is a green-card holder who can't wait to leave for Army boot camp in North Carolina later this month. Military service will allow her to become a citizen in six months instead of two years and provide her with money for law school.
"It's a chance to give thanks to the country that has given me the opportunity to finish high school and open doors to college and be what I want to be," said Nava, a San Bernardino resident who came to the United States at age 5 from Jalisco, Mexico. "They keep telling me it's a crazy thing to do. I think it's something I will look back on and be proud that I did."
This story was published April 4, 2003.
Ellie