This Father's Day
As we partake in this Father’s day, enjoying the comfort of family and friends, relaxing on a Sunday afternoon, I believe that all Americans should take a moment to consider the plight of the Guerena family.
The Guerena family lost their father. He was a Marine veteran. He volunteered to protect his country and so joined that honorable institution, The United States Marine Corps. Jose Guerena was deployed to Iraq two times. I do not know the details of his service, but I am quite sure it was not easy. He was a Marine and Marines are sent where the bullets fly.
Jose left the Marines when his time was up. He had a family to raise. He had married his childhood sweetheart just before his first deployment. He cared deeply for his bride. He knew if something happened to him when he was overseas, that she would be cared for, because the Marines look after their fallen.
Jose took on the job of a miner in Pima County, Arizona. He and his wife produced two sons. He aspired to become a Border Patrolman, this time to protect America on another front.
On May 5, 2011 an illegal warrant was issued. A SWAT team was told an unsubstantiated rumor that Jose was a very bad, a very dangerous man. At 9:30 Jose was sleeping after a long overnight shift at the mine. His wife woke him and said there were armed men around the house. His first instinct was to grab his rifle. Marine instinct. His second was to hide his wife and youngest son in a closet. He placed himself between the unknown attackers and his family. The SWAT team burst in, saw the rifle and fired 71 bullets in his direction, 22 of which hit him, leaving 96 wounds in his body. The police grabbed his wife as she was making a frantic 911 call, begging for medical care for her husband. Probably the last person to see Jose alive was his youngest son, a four year old, as he wandered out of the closet.
Jose never did receive medical care. On scene paramedics were denied access. He was pronounced dead via telephone after a robot was sent in to prod him and make sure he was dead.
The Pima County DA found all aspects of this shooting legally justified. Currently, there is not any other investigation ongoing or even being considered.
Nothing even remotely illegal was discovered at the Guerena residence. Jose’s blood showed no substance abuse of any kind.
So, as you participate in this Father’s Day, take a moment to consider what it really means to be an American. Consider what this day is like for Jose’s two little fatherless boys. Think about the widow and the hell she must be living through.
Is this the America you thought it was?
A comment on Comments;
For further information on the Jose Guerena atrocity please check out;
http://hubpages.com/hub/Why-Jose-Guerena#comment-5940300
I am not a very good moderator. I space out into the ether for long periods. This Hub;
http://hubpages.com/hub/Iraq-Veteran-Gunned-Down-At-Home-Coverup
started by my friend Ghost 32, has been following the Guerena atrocity from the beginning and is still an active hub, I highly recommend it.
I am primarily interested in the ways and means in which to change the rules to stop the abuses of the [anti]Patriot Acts. Links to good websites with pertinent information or information about good candidates willing to take a stand, will be greatly appreciated. That all being said, if you care to comment, please write whatever you want.
