Army corporal Victor Garcia didn't support
the Iraq invasion and he didn't vote for the president, but
he gave his life serving his country. The AP's John Mone speaks
to his family about his death and about the 5th anniversary
of the war.
Garcia's sister notes that her brother had more to say
than just "Bush sucks," and could always back
his convictions with facts.
Despite his stance against the war Garcia enlisted looking
for some help with college tuition and perhaps some discipline.
The specialist was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry
Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade
Combat Team), at Ft. Lewis, Wash.
On July 1, 2007 he was killed in Baghdad when his unit
was attacked with small-arms fire.
Garcia, 22, was the son of Mexican immigrants.
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His brothers, Abel and Daniel, married their high school
sweethearts at a young age. Victor knew many girls, but
had no girlfriend.
“Victor just wanted to get out and see the world,”
Daniel Garcia said. “Victor was the one destined to
do a lot more.”
He was an avid sports fan and loved the Atlanta Braves,
the San Francisco 49ers and Manchester United soccer club
in England.
He read books by leftist critic Noam Chomsky. One of his
blog entries on his MySpace.com page wonders, “What
more evidence do we need?” that the war was a mistake.
Besides his mother and brothers, Garcia is survived by
his father and a sister.
This video is from The Associated Press, broadcast March
18, 2008.