 |
In Memoriam |
|
|
In Memoriam |
|
Pfc. Dustin Sekula, U.S.M.C (KIA)
By SARAH OVASKA
The Monitor
EDINBURG — Dustin Sekula had a free ticket to college.
The high school senior had the highest grades in Edinburg North High School when he
graduated last year, but he turned down an agriculture scholarship.
"Give it to somebody that needs it," he told his FFA teacher, Dan de la Viņa.
Sekula had his own plan.
He was joining the U.S. Marine Corps immediately after graduation and would have
college paid for once he finished his tour. He left for boot camp in June.
"I really didn’t want him to go. I tried talking to him about it," de la
Viņa said Friday afternoon at the high school. "I wanted him to go to school,
college, as any teacher wants for his kids."
Just three months after he came to Iraq with the 1st Military Division, Sekula, 18, was
killed Thursday by "enemy action" in the Al Anbar province — which includes
Fallujah and Ramadi in the hostile Sunni Triangle, according to his family, friends and
military reports. Sekula is the first person from Hidalgo County to die in the Iraq war.
He is survived by his parents, Dan and Lisa Sekula, older sister Danielle and younger
brother Derek.
American flags were at half-staff at both his Edinburg home and Edinburg North High School
on Friday afternoon.
Family members, grieving after they received the news late Thursday night, referred
reporters to the pastor at the family’s church, Robert Robinson of Trinity Worship
Center.
Two Marines came to the Sekula house Thursday night to tell the family about Dustin
Sekula’s death, Robinson said.
Dan Sekula knew that the Marines had horrible news about his son, Robinson said.
"When he saw those guys in the blue uniforms, he knew," Robinson said.
Robinson said that Dustin Sekula was active in the Pharr church, particularly in the
children’s church program where his parents also taught.
Before leaving for Iraq, Sekula talked to the children at church about being a Marine.
"The kids let him know they prayed for him every Sunday," Robinson said.
After Sekula graduated from his training, Edinburg North principal Mario Salinas said the
young Marine came to the school to visit with all of his former teachers.
Salinas recalls seeing him in the cafeteria, wearing his Marine uniform and telling him
how happy he was that his mother and father attended his graduation ceremony.
"He was so glad his daddy and mommy had gone," Salinas said. "He was just
so proud."
For those who knew him, Sekula was a jack-of-all-trades when it came to running a farm and
ranching, but roping steers had a special place in his heart.
"I just wish he was still here to do it," said Kyle Lambert, 17, a junior at
Edinburg North who took classes with Sekula and was a close friend. Sekula spent a great
deal of time on a family farm in McCook as well as a family ranch.
While a student last year at Edinburg North, Sekula would use his lunch period to practice
roping on a fake steer. Sekula was also an active member of FFA while in high school.
Lambert and Joe Casas, 18, said that when Sekula joined the Marines, he didn’t
anticipate being sent to Iraq.
Just before leaving for Iraq, Sekula had called the pair, who were on their way to eat
dinner with two other mutual friends.
The friends talked on the phone for a while and then Sekula paused, Lambert said.
"All of a sudden, he said, ‘I’m going to get shipped off,’"
Lambert recalled about the conversation.
After a silence, Casas remarked quietly, "That’s the last time we’d talked
to him."