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In Memoriam |
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In Memoriam |
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Cpl. Pablo Mayorga
Lauderhill family mourns Marine killed in Iraq
Two years ago, Pablo Vinecio Mayorga married his high school sweetheart. The couple bought a home near Camp Lejeune, N.C., and were anxiously expecting the birth of their first child, a son.
But Mayorga, 33, won't be in the delivery room. Mayorga won't ever cradle his son, Vinnie, or watch him grown into manhood.
And he won't watch his children, Nicole, 13, and Alexander, 8, from previous marriages grow up.
Pablo Mayorga and three other Marines died around 8 a.m. Saturday after a roadside bomb blew up their Humvee in the Al Anbar province of western Iraq.
''All I can say is that he was the best father, son, husband and Marine,'' said Paola Mayorga. ``My husband loved being a Marine and he loved this country with such a passion.''
Mayorga moved to the United States in 1991 from Quito, Ecuador. While working in New York, Mayorga arranged for his family to join him. He ''paved the way,'' for his cousins, brothers, sisters and parents to move to the States, and helped them settle in, said his sister, Erika Mayorga, of Lauderhill.
In 2001, Mayorga moved to Broward County. He and several family members worked at a pool company in Fort Lauderdale while Mayorga perfected his English and studied to become an American citizen. In October 2002, Mayorga decided to join the Marines.
''He wanted to give back to this country which had given him and his family so many opportunities,'' said Mayorga's cousin, Eddie Gomez. ``And he joined because of 9/11. All of us were really impacted by the deaths of so many people in this country, including a lot of Spanish people. He loved this country and wanted to defend it.''
Mayorga enlisted in October 2002 and completed his boot camp at Parris Island, S.C. After boot camp, Mayorga completed additional training at Camp Lejeune.
It was after basic training that Mayorga learned that his high-school sweetheart, Paola, was divorced and the mother of two girls: Emily, 10, and Brenda, 8. Mayorga, also recently divorced and the father of two children, called his old girlfriend.
Paola was now living in Pennsylvania and the two began e-mailing each other, writing letters and racking up enormous phone bills. They rekindled their old relationship and, in May 2004, got married.
''It was like their love never went away,'' Erika Mayorga said. ``They were so happy. And her daughters became his daughters.''
Pablo Mayorga, who loved dogs, convinced his wife to adopt three of them: a cocker spaniel, a Labradoodle and a Great Dane.
''Our house was filled with laughter,'' Paola Mayorga, 31, said. ``It was filled with love.''
Mayorga became an American citizen in August 2004 and one month later shipped out to Iraq.
''He was trying to get our parents to move up to North Carolina so that we could all be together again,'' Erika Mayorga said. ``Family was everything to him. He always wanted his family around him.''
He returned last year to Camp Lejeune, his wife, and daughters. On March 25, Mayorga returned to Iraq.
On Saturday, his wife, learned her lifetime friend had died.
Mayorga's parents are in North Carolina waiting for their son to arrive in Camp Lejeune on Wednesday or Thursday. A memorial service will be held in North Carolina and then Mayorga will come home to Broward.
Funeral arrangements for Mayorga in Broward are pending, his wife said.
''My brother is a hero, but he was always a hero to all of us,'' Erika Mayorga said. ``He was always a role model to his daughters and to his siblings. He was a good man.''