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Home Front: WoT
Mexican soldiers interrupt funeral of U.S. Marine killed in Iraq
2004-07-06
What a Shame.
Ferocious Mexican soldiers carrying frightening automatic weapons interrupted the U.S. Independence Day funeral of a U.S. Marine and demanded that the Marine honor guard give up ceremonial replicas of rifles they carried. Hundreds of friends and relatives packed a small cemetery for the funeral on Sunday of 22-year-old Juan Lopez, who was born in this sun-scorched farming town, immigrated to Dalton, Georgia, as a teenager and became a Marine. He was killed in an ambush in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on June 21. Maj. Curt Gwilliam presented an American flag to Lopez’s widow, Sandra Torres, who clutched a bouquet of yellow and white flowers while tears streamed down her face. While the funeral demonstrated the close human ties of Mexico and the United States, problems began moments after the start -- leading to an expression of outrage by the U.S. ambassador.

Four U.S. Marines marched solemnly to the grave carrying an American flag and the colors of the Marine Corps. Two of the men had rifles that looked real, but could not be fired, strapped to their backs. Four Mexican soldiers blocked their path, asking the four Marines and six others who had served as pallbearers to return to the car that had brought them to the funeral. Several minutes of discussions by soldiers from both countries continued until a trumpet player began a rendition of taps and the funeral continued, despite the objections of the Mexican troops. When the ceremony was complete, all the Marines on hand returned to a U.S. Embassy vehicle and waited. Fourteen Mexican soldiers arrived to guard the premises. About 40 minutes later, apparently under orders from a superior officer, the Mexican soldiers allowed the van to leave. "I’m outraged that this would take away from the ceremony honoring U.S. Marine Juan Lopez Rangel, whose family requested he be buried in his town of birth with full military honors," U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said in a prepared statement.

A long-ago generation of Marines played a part in Mexico’s deep suspicion of any foreign military force on its territory. The Marine Hymn’s "Halls of Montezuma" refers to the 1847 capture of Mexico City.
Ummm... That was... No, wait! Lemme count... Uhhh... (... 34, carry the 9... square root of 51...) 157 years ago, give or take a few months. And they're still scared?
The Mexican Defense Department banned plans for a 21-gun salute by Marines because Mexico’s Constitution bans foreign soldiers from carrying firearms here.
Not even to render honors to Mexican citizens...
Mexican soldiers at the funeral refused to comment, but U.S. Embassy spokesman Jim Dickmeyer said they likely saw the rifle replicas and mistakenly thought the Marines were planning to fire a salute anyway. "These are ceremonial weapons," Dickmeyer said. "We were told not to bring M-16s, we didn’t bring M-16s. We were told not to fire in the air, we didn’t fire in the air."

Lopez’s cousin, Octavio Lopez, called the interruption "a big mistake. If carrying these rifles was part of the ceremony, a ceremony the family wanted, how could it have been anything but positive?"
Depends on whether whoever's making the decision is stoopid, huh?
When U.S. Marines loaded Lopez’s gray coffin onto a hearse earlier in the afternoon, a swell of local residents poured through the street and marched with the Lopez family past shabby brick homes. A mariachi band dressed in green sang, "Goodbye for ever, goodbye." The music never stopped during a somber 45-minute march across town. As church services began, about 300 people who could not fit inside listened over loudspeakers and sang along. An hour later, several hundred people marched about a kilometer (a half mile) to the ceremony to watch as Lopez’s gray coffin was lowered into the ground. Even many of those who marched in Lopez’s honor were not shy about voicing their opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "For a Mexican to go and die for a country that wasn’t his own, it’s too tragic," said Marciana Camacho, who runs a convenience store a block from the home where Lopez’s wife lived with his parents. "Iraq is so far away from our little town. It doesn’t make sense."
But then, Marciana doesn't get out much, and nobody's ever exploded in her convenience store in her little town...
Posted by:Yosemite Sam

#14  Next time, boys,... bring the real rifles.
Posted by: tu3031   2004-07-06 9:58:36 PM  

#13  Contact the Mexican embassy here: http://portal.sre.gob.mx/usa/index.php?option=contact&Itemid=6

Embassy of mexico
1911 Pennsylvania av
Washington DC 20006
USA
Telephone: (202) 7281600
Posted by: Parabellum   2004-07-06 7:02:20 PM  

#12  amen to that smokey sinse
Posted by: Shipman   2004-07-06 6:05:50 PM  

#11  no matter what country he fault for looks like they could have had a little more respect for the family
Posted by: smokeysinse   2004-07-06 4:49:07 PM  

#10  Check out their school textbooks. Still preaching they lost half their territory to U.S. as if it happened yesterday. Helps put the funeral issue into some sort of context...
Posted by: borgboy   2004-07-06 4:03:39 PM  

#9  and further more what would have happend if
it was a Mexican born Texas Ranger?

Would they have disarmed the (kofi) Ranger? (One Funeral, One Riot, One Ranger)

Or would the City fallen again?
Posted by: Shipman   2004-07-06 3:33:41 PM  

#8  Musta been replicas, 12 Marines with real M1s would have overrun the northern provinces.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-07-06 3:31:04 PM  

#7  Let's see...the Mexican "military" is by and large so corrupt that they fire on US Border Patrol and US citizens protecting drug lords and "illegals" smugglers. But the Mexican
"military" is macho enough to roust unarmed guards at the funeral of a brave, dead US Marine.

That makes sense. The only ones the Mexican
"military" has the balls to confront are unarmed. I guess they were mad they didn't get a payoff.

Three cheers for Vicente Fox, friend of the Norte Americanos.
Posted by: anymouse   2004-07-06 1:40:54 PM  

#6  Interesting that the Mexican Soldiers were ‘offended’ by other soldiers offering to honor fallen comrade. I bet these were not ‘regular’ soldiers but some lowlifes trying to make a splash in the papers. I also would not put it passed one of the LLL to stage an incident such as this. Yes I have the tinfoil beanie on today! On the other hand if the Mexican Army is feeling wily maybe they should deploy along the border and stop the thousands of citizen leaving their precious country!
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter)   2004-07-06 12:37:27 PM  

#5  Interesting that the Mexican Soldiers were ‘offended’ by other soldiers offering to honor fallen comrade. I bet these were not ‘regular’ soldiers but some lowlifes trying to make a splash in the papers. I also would not put it passed one of the LLL to stage an incident such as this. Yes I have the tinfoil beanie on today! On the other hand if the Mexican Army is feeling wily maybe they should deploy along the border and stop the thousands of citizen leaving their precious country!
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter)   2004-07-06 12:36:34 PM  

#4  Ms Camacho's statement encapsulates why TJ is not known as the home of the brave. The Brave swim the Rio Grande or apply for a VISA.
Posted by: Super Hose   2004-07-06 12:11:10 PM  

#3  "For a Mexican to go and die for a country that wasn’t his own, it’s too tragic," said Marciana Camacho, who runs a convenience store a block from the home where Lopez’s wife lived with his parents.

What's worth noting is that this "Mexican" was willing to put his life on the line for the U.S., not Mexico.

"Iraq is so far away from our little town. It doesn’t make sense."

No problem. Stay away from Iraq, and most of all, stay away from the U.S. border. Spread the word to ALL of your countrymen to stay in Mexico and stop trying to sneak into the U.S. illegally, and we'll get along just fine.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-07-06 11:46:10 AM  

#2  Godspeed to a brave man, obviously a far better man than those in service to Mexico. This kind of nonsense goes on all the time as anyone who lives near the border can tell you. It's time to stop it. Seal the border. Send the illegals home or as a minimum, stop the wire transfer of money back to Mexico and let Vincente Fox do a Leahy.
Posted by: RWV   2004-07-06 11:21:37 AM  

#1  Even many of those who marched in Lopez’s honor were not shy about voicing their opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

"For a Mexican to go and die for a country that wasn’t his own, it’s too tragic," said Marciana Camacho..."Iraq is so far away from our little town. It doesn’t make sense."

Camacho is not expressing her opposition to the war in Iraq, she's expressing her opposition to someone from her little town dying in far-off Iraq "for a country that wasn't his own." Perhaps Ms. Camacho is confused about what country Lopez considered his own.
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2004-07-06 11:17:37 AM  

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