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thedrifter
12-31-07, 07:35 AM
Family holds on tightly to memory of fallen Marine

December 30, 2007
By Elisabeth Kilpatrick Staff Writer

A sign on Jesse De La Torre's bedroom door at his father's house reads, "Lance Cpl. Jesse De La Torre; enter with respect." Inside, the walls are plastered with pictures: Jesse playing the saxophone as a teenager, Jesse posing with a llama in Iraq, Jesse looking serious and brave in his Marine blues. This is where Jesse's father, Aureliano, and siblings Juan, 14, and Brenda, 17, come now to spend time with the fallen Marine.

"Some people say, 'Oh, I know how you feel,'" Aureliano De La Torre said. "Not even close."

Jesse, a 1998 East Aurora High School graduate, joined the Marines in 2005. Last April, he was killed in Iraq after an improvised explosive device hit his Humvee. He was 29.

Back in Aurora, his family struggles to understand why Jesse was taken from them.

"I'm very angry I wasn't there to help him," said Raquel De La Torre, Jesse's mother. "I was always there to help him, and this time I couldn't be. It's devastating."

Raquel, who has been separated from Jesse's father since Jesse was 12, created a Christmas memorial for her son in her own front yard. A wreath with vigil candles, adorned with an angel and an American flag, rests on the lawn as a silent reminder of the son who won't be home for the holidays this year. Raquel said she looks at it every day, waiting for a peace that's slow to come.

That sluggish pace has seemed to define the aftermath of Jesse's death for the De La Torres. The impact of the blast that killed Jesse also tore his leg from his body, and though the family buried him in April, his missing leg did not arrive until October. A small, intimate ceremony was held at Jesse's grave in late October to reunite the leg with the rest of his body.

Both Aureliano and Raquel De La Torre said that despite the pain of burying their son a second time, seeing that his body still looked the same after six months was comforting.

"I was surprised, but now I know he's going to stay that way," Aureliano said.

Many groups have reached out to the De La Torres, including the military, Jesse's fellow Marines and the East Aurora High community. In June, the school dedicated three pillars in its courtyard to Jesse and two other East Aurora graduates killed in Iraq, arranging them with pictures and plaques of the Marines.

Raquel said she appreciated East Aurora's tribute to her son. "It makes me feel, I don't want to say proud, but it makes me feel good that they appreciated Jesse, because he was a wonderful person," she said.

The Fox Valley Marine Corps League also has been a comforting presence to Aureliano and his other children, he said, providing money, support and anything else they need.

"They've been beautiful people," the father said.

Remembering Jesse is both comforting and painful. The De La Torres recall his huge smile, how much he loved to sing and play the saxophone, his deep devotion to his Christian faith. They talk about how gifted he was with computers and how he wanted to join the police force as a detective after his time in the Marines. Most of all, though, they remember him as a wonderful son and brother.

Aureliano recounts a time when Jesse took him out for a hamburger and a beer, just the two of them, and insisted on paying for everything. "Jesse is my ...," He trails off, tears in his eyes. "It's hard. Real, real hard."

Aureliano, Brenda and Juan made few plans for the holidays, saying they might visit with close family in Aurora. Raquel didn't put out her normal Christmas decorations, just the wreath for Jesse. For now, the pain is still too fresh to celebrate. The season is instead a time to reflect on their loss.

"The last thing (Jesse) told me was that he loved me," Raquel said. "In a way, that's what keeps me surviving. I remember that he loved me and that I loved him."

Ellie