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Mexican soldiers interrupt funeral of U.S. Marine killed in Iraq
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 Lopezâs 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. "Iâm 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 Mexicoâs deep suspicion of any foreign military force on its territory. The Marine Hymnâs "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 Mexicoâs 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 didnât bring M-16s. We were told not to fire in the air, we didnât fire in the air."
Lopezâs 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 Lopezâs 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 Lopezâs gray coffin was lowered into the ground. Even many of those who marched in Lopezâs 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 wasnât his own, itâs too tragic," said Marciana Camacho, who runs a convenience store a block from the home where Lopezâs wife lived with his parents. "Iraq is so far away from our little town. It doesnât 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 2004-07-06 |
