Marine Pfc. Jose Gonzalez Rodriguez

Died May 12, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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19, of Norwalk, Calif.; assigned to 1st Supply Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed in Iraq when unexploded ordnance he was handling detonated.

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Jose F. Gonzalez Rodriguez was the kind of student all his teachers liked to remember. A Mexican immigrant, he was an honor student, an athlete and someone who seldom missed a high school event.

“He really enjoyed all of that,” said Linda Granillo, the school principal. “We remember him dancing at all the school dances. He was very well-liked.”

Rodriguez played third base on the baseball team and liked wearing his John Glenn Eagles baseball cap at school. He came from a large and very supportive family, Granillo said, and was recruited by the Marines just after high school.

“The military is a good opportunity,” Granillo said. “But you hate to lose kids from your school this way.”

— Associated Press