thedrifter
08-10-09, 06:20 AM
Homestead `hero' killed by mine in desert
JOSE PAGLIERY
Miami Herald
5:40 AM EDT, August 10, 2009
Having just graduated from Miami-Dade County's fire rescue academy, Christian A. Guzman Rivera thought the two-year wait to become a firefighter was too long.
The Homestead teen was already addicted to the adrenaline rush he got from tiptoeing the line between life and death.
So he joined the U.S. Marines in 2007, hoping to specialize as a firefighter and secure a spot with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue upon his return.
But Cpl. Guzman, 21, and three fellow Marines died Thursday as they drove their Humvee over an improvised explosive device as they crossed the Afghan desert at the break of dawn, according to family members.
The incident occurred in Afghanistan's western province of Farah, which borders Iran. The others in the Humvee included a New Yorker -- Lance Cpl. James D. Argentine, 22 -- and two Texans -- Lance Cpl. Travis T. Babine, 20, and Sgt. Jay M. Hoskins, 24.
``They are our heroes,'' said Guzman's mother, Velma Torres.
Family members said Guzman was a different man when they last saw him in May. The thin Puerto Rican teen who had left Homestead came back a Marine weighing 35 pounds more -- all muscle, said stepfather Felix Torres.
And he had something special to show them: a tattoo he got while stationed in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture. It ran across his sculpted chest in bold black letters that read ``Death before dishonor.''
It was his oath to brotherhood that transformed his life -- and proof that he had not changed much since his days at Homestead Senior High School, where he participated in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.
To Guzman, the Marines were a continuation of what he had learned to love in high school: working hard and earning rank.
``He liked the hierarchy, the whole system,'' said his 18-year-old brother, Jonathan Guzman. ``He loved moving up the ranks.''
He sustained that determination in the Marines, moving up to corporal in less than 17 months while traveling the world.
But that drive didn't stop Guzman from keeping up with the latest fashions and constantly adding to his massive collection of bright-colored, top-notch sneakers.
``It was his obsession,'' his mother said.
Jordans, Dunks, Blazers, SB's -- he had to have them all, said Jonathan Guzman, who estimated his brother's collection at three dozen pairs.
For the young man who so often wore drab military uniforms, fashion was how he expressed himself, saying in bright red and blue what he couldn't say in camouflage.
Family members said that Guzman bought a pair of shoes and an outfit with every paycheck, and would even attend sneaker conventions. Whenever a popular new sneaker would hit the shelves, Guzman would wait outside a store at 5 a.m. to get a pair from the first batch.
He defined himself by his clothing and style, Jonathan Guzman said.
He will be wearing his uniform when he is buried at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn South Funeral Home and Cemetery, 11655 SW 117th Ave., when his body arrives from overseas later this week.
Ellie
JOSE PAGLIERY
Miami Herald
5:40 AM EDT, August 10, 2009
Having just graduated from Miami-Dade County's fire rescue academy, Christian A. Guzman Rivera thought the two-year wait to become a firefighter was too long.
The Homestead teen was already addicted to the adrenaline rush he got from tiptoeing the line between life and death.
So he joined the U.S. Marines in 2007, hoping to specialize as a firefighter and secure a spot with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue upon his return.
But Cpl. Guzman, 21, and three fellow Marines died Thursday as they drove their Humvee over an improvised explosive device as they crossed the Afghan desert at the break of dawn, according to family members.
The incident occurred in Afghanistan's western province of Farah, which borders Iran. The others in the Humvee included a New Yorker -- Lance Cpl. James D. Argentine, 22 -- and two Texans -- Lance Cpl. Travis T. Babine, 20, and Sgt. Jay M. Hoskins, 24.
``They are our heroes,'' said Guzman's mother, Velma Torres.
Family members said Guzman was a different man when they last saw him in May. The thin Puerto Rican teen who had left Homestead came back a Marine weighing 35 pounds more -- all muscle, said stepfather Felix Torres.
And he had something special to show them: a tattoo he got while stationed in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture. It ran across his sculpted chest in bold black letters that read ``Death before dishonor.''
It was his oath to brotherhood that transformed his life -- and proof that he had not changed much since his days at Homestead Senior High School, where he participated in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.
To Guzman, the Marines were a continuation of what he had learned to love in high school: working hard and earning rank.
``He liked the hierarchy, the whole system,'' said his 18-year-old brother, Jonathan Guzman. ``He loved moving up the ranks.''
He sustained that determination in the Marines, moving up to corporal in less than 17 months while traveling the world.
But that drive didn't stop Guzman from keeping up with the latest fashions and constantly adding to his massive collection of bright-colored, top-notch sneakers.
``It was his obsession,'' his mother said.
Jordans, Dunks, Blazers, SB's -- he had to have them all, said Jonathan Guzman, who estimated his brother's collection at three dozen pairs.
For the young man who so often wore drab military uniforms, fashion was how he expressed himself, saying in bright red and blue what he couldn't say in camouflage.
Family members said that Guzman bought a pair of shoes and an outfit with every paycheck, and would even attend sneaker conventions. Whenever a popular new sneaker would hit the shelves, Guzman would wait outside a store at 5 a.m. to get a pair from the first batch.
He defined himself by his clothing and style, Jonathan Guzman said.
He will be wearing his uniform when he is buried at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn South Funeral Home and Cemetery, 11655 SW 117th Ave., when his body arrives from overseas later this week.
Ellie