Army Spc. Vilmar Galarza Hernandez Dies at 21

In 2009, parents Vile Galarza suffered when he said he wanted to join the army after high school in Salinas.

They wanted to go to college, and had to hand the letters of acceptance. If you had to join the army, he was told he could not choose a job that provides some "security working as a truck driver, perhaps, or a mechanic?

Galarza said they not only give high, but he wanted to be a soldier - to experience the tradition boasted of having boots on the ground.

"We especially wanted the infantry," said his sister, Rubi Galarza. "This is exactly the kind of person he was. Could not talk about it."

On May 26, shortly after starting a nine-month deployment, the soldier. Vilmar Galarza Hernandez, known as "Vile," was on patrol and stepped on a bomb Zharay, Afghanistan, in Kandahar province. He never regained consciousness, according to his family, and died shortly afterwards on the way to a hospital. He was 21.

Galarza was assigned to the 4 th Battalion, 23 Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Second Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington was his second tour in Afghanistan, according his family, completed a six month tour in 2010.

Galarza was born in Yuma, Arizona, and moved at the age of 5 years in Salinas, where their parents work in agricultural fields in the region.

"Do not live in the best neighborhood," said Rubi Galarza. "I wanted to be able to move my family to this neighborhood."

Vile as Ruby and Galarza grew, they lost some of his friends to violence in prison and banda. Vile Galarza was determined to avoid this fate.

"I saw him move away from that, and I did the same," said Rubi Galarza, in a telephone interview from Peru, where he is studying for the summer. "I have always followed in his footsteps."

Due to the influence of his older brother, Rubi Galarza said, have received recognition from the University of Berkeley, which will enter its fourth year this fall, studying biology with the intention of going in medical school. Galarza was in Peru conducting research on medicinal plants.

"I was so proud of me," he said. "It's so sad that it will be my graduation."

Galarza is a graduate of Everett Alvarez High School Salinas in 2008. He was married two months before he was murdered.

He was buried with military honors at Garden of Memories in Salinas. In a panegyric at his funeral, the church, Brig. January Randal A. Dragon Galarza recalls as "a son, a husband, a brother, a soldier, a knight, a hero and a friend."

"It was a true American patriot and a man respected and wanted by all who were privileged to walk beside her," said the Dragon.

Captain Brandon Wohlschlegel, company commander of Galarza, called it "a model soldier."

"In some of the toughest conditions I've ever seen, the soldier. Galarza Hernandez was always doing the right thing," said Wohlschlegel. "It was a rock."

Galarza awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal Army Good Conduct Medal, National Service Medal Defense Medal Afghanistan Campaign with Campaign Star, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Overseas Ribbon, the NATO medal and Jack Fight Credential.