Doc_Pardue
10-30-2007, 00:21
Army medic killed
By Stephanie Sanchez / El Paso Times
An Army medic who attended Hanks High School was killed Thursday in Afghanistan while trying to save the life of another soldier who had been shot in an ambush, his family said Sunday.
Army Spc. Hugo V. Mendoza, 29, died from wounds suffered during small arms fire in Korengal Valley, Afghanistan. Mendoza was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, stationed in Vicenza, Italy.
"They were ambushed. A soldier was shot," said Hugo Mendoza's brother Jesus Carlos Mendoza Jr. in a telephone interview Sunday. "Hugo tried to get him to safety, and that was when he was shot."
Jesus Mendoza, of Glendale, Ariz., said funeral services for his brother will be at Fort Bliss National Cemetery this week.
He said the family was informed about his brother's death Friday morning by his brother's commanding officer.
"My brother gave his life for another," Jesus Mendoza said. "He was trying to save another gentleman, Army brother's life."
Jesus Mendoza told of a harrowing battle in the ambush in which Army Sgt. Joshua C. Brennan, 22, of Ontario, Ore., and Hugo Mendoza survived six grenades that were thrown in their direction. But he said Brennan and his brother eventually were shot.
Brennan died Friday in Asadabad, Afghanistan, of those injuries.
Jesus Mendoza said his brother, who wanted to become a firefighter, joined the Army to get money to go to school and to get medic training, he said.
Hugo Mendoza attended Hanks High School until the 11th grade when he left to go live with his brother in Glendale and graduated from Trevor Browne High School in Phoenix, Jesus Mendoza said.
The Mendoza family does not have details about funeral services for Hugo Mendoza, only that they will be at Fort Bliss this week, he said.
"My mom's wishes were to bury him there," Jesus Mendoza said. "She felt that is where my brother would want to be."
El Paso friends of Hugo Mendoza remember him as a person who loved to sit around and discuss philosophy.
"He loved religion and trying to find the answers to age-old questions," said Christi Ramirez, 33, a childhood friend from East El Paso. "He was a very loving soul."
She said she, her brother, Danny Ramirez, and Hugo Mendoza were good friends and they always kept in contact, she said.
"He was definitely trying to be the best person he could be," she said. "He really joined to get medical training and follow his dreams of being a firefighter."
He is survived by his father, Jesus Carlos Mendoza Sr., his mother, Sara, and his brothers Jesus Carlos and Stevie of El Paso.
By Stephanie Sanchez / El Paso Times
An Army medic who attended Hanks High School was killed Thursday in Afghanistan while trying to save the life of another soldier who had been shot in an ambush, his family said Sunday.
Army Spc. Hugo V. Mendoza, 29, died from wounds suffered during small arms fire in Korengal Valley, Afghanistan. Mendoza was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, stationed in Vicenza, Italy.
"They were ambushed. A soldier was shot," said Hugo Mendoza's brother Jesus Carlos Mendoza Jr. in a telephone interview Sunday. "Hugo tried to get him to safety, and that was when he was shot."
Jesus Mendoza, of Glendale, Ariz., said funeral services for his brother will be at Fort Bliss National Cemetery this week.
He said the family was informed about his brother's death Friday morning by his brother's commanding officer.
"My brother gave his life for another," Jesus Mendoza said. "He was trying to save another gentleman, Army brother's life."
Jesus Mendoza told of a harrowing battle in the ambush in which Army Sgt. Joshua C. Brennan, 22, of Ontario, Ore., and Hugo Mendoza survived six grenades that were thrown in their direction. But he said Brennan and his brother eventually were shot.
Brennan died Friday in Asadabad, Afghanistan, of those injuries.
Jesus Mendoza said his brother, who wanted to become a firefighter, joined the Army to get money to go to school and to get medic training, he said.
Hugo Mendoza attended Hanks High School until the 11th grade when he left to go live with his brother in Glendale and graduated from Trevor Browne High School in Phoenix, Jesus Mendoza said.
The Mendoza family does not have details about funeral services for Hugo Mendoza, only that they will be at Fort Bliss this week, he said.
"My mom's wishes were to bury him there," Jesus Mendoza said. "She felt that is where my brother would want to be."
El Paso friends of Hugo Mendoza remember him as a person who loved to sit around and discuss philosophy.
"He loved religion and trying to find the answers to age-old questions," said Christi Ramirez, 33, a childhood friend from East El Paso. "He was a very loving soul."
She said she, her brother, Danny Ramirez, and Hugo Mendoza were good friends and they always kept in contact, she said.
"He was definitely trying to be the best person he could be," she said. "He really joined to get medical training and follow his dreams of being a firefighter."
He is survived by his father, Jesus Carlos Mendoza Sr., his mother, Sara, and his brothers Jesus Carlos and Stevie of El Paso.