Afghanistan Eight

Not long ago I commented on Facebook that it had been a long time since I'd gotten a notice from the Patriot Guard about a funeral. I guess that's about to change.  Tucson had two native sons in the fight at COP Keating in Afghanistan.  One survived.  One did not.

The following article is from The Arizona Daily Star, 10-08-09 

How will boy, 5, cope with loss of soldier dad?

When he wasn't serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, Army Sgt. Justin Gallegos seemed joined at the hip to his 5-year-old son, MacAidan. He was there for the boy's birth in 2003, for endless feedings and diaper changes. Later, he would take the tot camping, to the zoo, the park, the movies. "He was with him 24/7 whenever he wasn't deployed," said Bessie Guadiana-Hoffman of Tucson, a family friend.

"MacAidan was the light of Justin's life."

Now loved ones worry about how the child will cope with the news that his father isn't coming home.

Gallegos, 27, who attended Tucson High Magnet School, was one of eight U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan Saturday during a fierce clash with hundreds of insurgents in a remote area near the Pakistan border, the Defense Department said Wednesday.

He is the 42nd service member with ties to Tucson and Southern Arizona to be claimed by conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gallegos died when enemy forces equipped with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades swarmed a pair of remote outposts in the Kamdesh district of Nuristan province. He was part of a group serving there with the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Carson, Colo.

The dawn attack was one of the deadliest on U.S. troops since the war began.

Gallegos' mother, Josefina "Yolanda" Heideman of Tucson, received the dreaded visit from Army casualty notification officers a few days ago.

"His mother, as you can imagine, is beyond words. The grief is horrific for her," said Guadiana-Hoffman, the family's spokeswoman.

But it's the soldier's young son who will likely be hit hardest by the loss, she said.  "I don't know how he is going to comprehend this, the poor little guy."

Sgt. Gallegos was recently divorced and his son lives with the child's mother in Colorado.  The Afghanistan tour marked Gallegos' third time overseas— he did two earlier tours in Iraq — since he joined the Army in 2002.

Guadiana-Hoffman said he earned two Purple Hearts in Iraq for wounds suffered in combat. He is due to receive another at his funeral, along with a Bronze Star, and a posthumous promotion to the rank of staff sergeant.

Marcia Ruiz, Gallegos' cousin and a fellow classmate at Tucson High in the late 1990s, remembers the soldier as smart, outgoing and energetic. He joined the military, she said, because "he wanted to do something productive with his life."  She said her cousin hadn't been back to Tucson since he enlisted, but was looking forward to returning next year for the 10-year reunion of Tucson High's Class of 2000.

Gallegos was part of that class until he switched schools in senior year to attend Aztec Middle College at Pima Community College's west campus, so he could study college and high school subjects at the same time.  He graduated from Aztec in 2000, then went to work at the same company as his mother, Aqua Star International, a small local firm that manufactures the water vending machines often seen outside local supermarkets.

Guadiana-Hoffman was Gallegos' boss. She recalls him as a hard worker with a keen eye for detail and an eagerness to do his best on every assignment. He was beloved by fellow staff for his sense of humor, she said.  "He was the type of person that, wherever he went, the party would follow him."

"He was a fine, fine young man in so many ways."

Besides his son and his mother, the soldier also is survived by a brother, Matthew, and two sisters, Amber and Sunshine. He was predeceased by his father, Edward, and brothers Isaac and Eric.

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