Sunday, June 29, 2003
Rest Now Hero
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Local News
Puerto Rican soldier killed in Iraq
Sunday, June 29th, 2003.
By Sandra Ivelisse Villerrael of Associated Press
SAN JUAN - The Pentagon has confirmed the death of a Puerto Rican soldier in Iraq, saying he had been killed apparently while investigating a car theft for the U.S. military.
Spc. Richard P. Orengo, 32, died Thursday from gunshot wounds in An Najaf, 100 miles (161 kilometers) southwest of Baghdad, the U.S. State Department said Friday, but gave no further details of the incident or his mission in An Najaf.
Orengo, who was born in New Jersey but lived in Toa Alta, had been assigned to the 755th Military Police Company in north-coast Arecibo. He was sent to Iraq last month. He also has worked since 1996 as a policeman with the motorcycle unit of Bayamon.
Police Superintendent Victor M. Rivera Gonzalez said he would ask Gov. Sila Calderon to hold a full military funeral for Orengo, since "he died in service."
His widow, Carmen Berrios Rodriguez, released a statement Friday asking for "support in this moment of deep pain for me and each member of my family." He also leaves behind three children aged 7, 8 and 18.
Orengo is the third Puerto Rican to be killed in the war on Iraq. Marine Cpl. Robert Marcus Rodriguez, 21, died in March when his tank plunged off a bridge and landed upside down in the Euphrates River. He was born in the central town of Orocovis.
Army Spc. Gil Mercado, 25, who was born in Paterson, New Jersey, but lived his teenage years in west-coast Isabela, died in April of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Puerto Ricans were made U.S. citizens in 1917, and 3.4 million of them now live in the mainland United States.
Though islanders serve in the U.S. military, they cannot vote for president and have no vote in Congress. The military has deployed more than 5,400 Puerto Ricans in its campaigns abroad - the largest deployment from the U.S. Caribbean territory of 4 million since the Korean war.
There are more than 53,000 Puerto Ricans in the U.S. armed forces, almost half of whom are on active duty, according to the Pentagon.
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Local News
Puerto Rican soldier killed in Iraq
Sunday, June 29th, 2003.
By Sandra Ivelisse Villerrael of Associated Press
SAN JUAN - The Pentagon has confirmed the death of a Puerto Rican soldier in Iraq, saying he had been killed apparently while investigating a car theft for the U.S. military.
Spc. Richard P. Orengo, 32, died Thursday from gunshot wounds in An Najaf, 100 miles (161 kilometers) southwest of Baghdad, the U.S. State Department said Friday, but gave no further details of the incident or his mission in An Najaf.
Orengo, who was born in New Jersey but lived in Toa Alta, had been assigned to the 755th Military Police Company in north-coast Arecibo. He was sent to Iraq last month. He also has worked since 1996 as a policeman with the motorcycle unit of Bayamon.
Police Superintendent Victor M. Rivera Gonzalez said he would ask Gov. Sila Calderon to hold a full military funeral for Orengo, since "he died in service."
His widow, Carmen Berrios Rodriguez, released a statement Friday asking for "support in this moment of deep pain for me and each member of my family." He also leaves behind three children aged 7, 8 and 18.
Orengo is the third Puerto Rican to be killed in the war on Iraq. Marine Cpl. Robert Marcus Rodriguez, 21, died in March when his tank plunged off a bridge and landed upside down in the Euphrates River. He was born in the central town of Orocovis.
Army Spc. Gil Mercado, 25, who was born in Paterson, New Jersey, but lived his teenage years in west-coast Isabela, died in April of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Puerto Ricans were made U.S. citizens in 1917, and 3.4 million of them now live in the mainland United States.
Though islanders serve in the U.S. military, they cannot vote for president and have no vote in Congress. The military has deployed more than 5,400 Puerto Ricans in its campaigns abroad - the largest deployment from the U.S. Caribbean territory of 4 million since the Korean war.
There are more than 53,000 Puerto Ricans in the U.S. armed forces, almost half of whom are on active duty, according to the Pentagon.
