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Cpl. Jesus Martin Antonio Medellin, U.S.M.C (KIA)
Fort Worth Marine dies in combat
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH - A military chaplain and three members of the U.S. Marine Corps brought the news to the home of Mary and Freddy Medellin on Monday evening: Their second-oldest child had been killed in Iraq.
Cpl. Jesus Martin "Marty" Antonio Medellin was Fort Worth's first casualty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Relatives remembered Medellin, 21, a 2000 graduate of Boswell High School, as a "mild-natured, friendly" person who knew at age 10 that he wanted to be a Marine.
"His parents are coping. They are a strong Christian family," Simona Sifuentes, Medellin's aunt, said Tuesday night. "They are very tired right now, very exhausted, but very proud."
Medellin was killed when an enemy artillery round struck his amphibious assault vehicle in central Iraq, said Staff Sgt. Richard Ruiz of the Department of Defense's press office. Medellin was assigned to the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton.
He had called his family about a month ago to say he was being diverted to Iraq from his assignment in Okinawa, Japan, Sifuentes said. The family last saw him about six months ago, when he came home on furlough.
"He was just very proud," Sifuentes said. "He told us not to worry. He knew what he was doing. He was proud to be a Marine."
Relatives said Medellin, who was the second of four sons, was family-oriented. He spent time with his younger brother Simon and he loved his grandmother's tortillas, Sifuentes said.
"He would always play games with me -- chess -- and we would play on the computer," said Simon, 11. "He would take me to movies and to the store a lot."
The family is planning a candlelight vigil tonight outside their house in northwest Fort Worth. Tuesday evening, an American flag and a Marine flag flew at half-staff outside the one-story tan brick house, and a yellow ribbon and a small American flag tied to the mailbox rustled in the breeze.
Flowers, American flags and teddy bears were placed beneath a front window -- gifts from family and friends. Another yellow ribbon was tied in a big bow around a tree in the Medellins' front yard.
"My son served his country proudly," Freddy Medellin said tearfully.
Sifuentes said it had been difficult to come to grips with the thought of her nephew at war.
"It was scary to watch the news and see them approaching Baghdad," she said. "There's thousands and thousands of men over there. You just hope it's not yours.
"I was very nervous the past few weeks when my brother [Marty's father] would call me. I would panic and think they were calling me to tell me Marty was killed. My brother would say, 'It's going to be OK.' But not last night."
This Includes Material From the Associated Press.