Grim news from Iraq yesterday left Marine Staff Sgt. Riayan Tejeda's family in Washington Heights heartbroken that he never realized his dream of becoming a citizen of the country he died fighting for.

Born in the Dominican Republic, and reared in the upper Manhattan neighborhood, the 26-year-old Tejeda was a green-card patriot who joined the Marines after graduating from George Washington High School.

"Eight years in the Marines and they never gave him citizenship," a tearful Julio Tejeda, 53, said of his son. "I wouldn't be surprised if President Bush wanted to give it to him now after he's dead. But it's too late. A piece of paper won't bring back my son."

A member of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, Tejeda was killed when his unit was ambushed Friday night in northeast Baghdad. The city's third casualty of the war, he was the divorced father of two daughters, ages 3 and 6.

"This is the night for America to appreciate what the Dominican Republic has done for us," said the father, standing near a memorial of bouquets and candles that sprung up for his son at the corner of 180th St. and St. Nicholas Ave. "We love this country, but we love Dominica, too."

With a broad smile to match his broad shoulders, Riayan Tejeda went off to battle, confident he would see his family again.

"He had a lot of plans," his father said. "He was always looking to the future. When he got out of the Marines, he planned to work for the U.S. government."

Just before his son shipped out to Iraq from Germany two months ago, Julio Tejeda said he and Riayan had what would be their final conversation.

"The last words he said to me were, 'I love you. Take care of my mother. This may be the last time I can call you,'" the father said.

He said his son, the oldest of three children, was not frightened about going to the front lines. "He loved his country so much that he didn't think to be worried," Julio Tejeda said.

As friends and relatives arrived to offer condolences, Julio Tejeda said he would always remember his son as "one of the happiest men in the world."

"He never complained about anything," the father said. "He made his mother happy all the time and people all over the neighborhood knew him because he was always smiling."

Originally published on April 14, 2003