[link]Update,
You can view pictures of Fernando and his beautiful family here:
[link]
Press Release:
Family remembers slain soldier
Web Posted: 08/04/2007 07:48 PM CDT
Michelle De La Rosa
Express-News
When Fernando Santos entered Adonia Santos' life, she knew him as the younger boy who lived across the street and liked to laze around with her brothers.
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“He was just this tall, scrawny, nerdy, little kid who came around to hang out,” she recalled during a telephone interview from Fort Lewis, Wash., Saturday. “He was always there. As a couple of years went by, we both kind of grew up, and we knew each other.”
In November, they would have been married 12 years. Fernando, a 29-year-old staff sergeant, had been scheduled to return from his second deployment to Iraq in June, but his stay was extended until October, Adonia said. When he returned, the couple was supposed to start planning a ceremony to renew their vows.
But Fernando and two other soldiers were killed Thursday after a roadside bomb, called an improvised explosive device by the military, detonated near their patrol in eastern Baghdad. None of the dead have yet been officially identified. A news release issued by military authorities in Baghdad said that 11 other soldiers were wounded. Four were treated for their injuries and released.
They were conducting combat operations against militias in that part of the nation's capital.
Fernando was the 29th San Antonian killed in Iraq since the invasion. Six U.S. troops have died in the first four days of this month, with another 80 lost in July, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.
Adonia, 34, said her husband was a strong man who tried to set a good example for others and tried to raise people's spirits, often through humor. He loved his children — three the couple had together, ages 6 months, 15 months, and 7 years old, and Adonia's 16-year-old son from a previous relationship — and valued time with his family when he wasn't working, Adonia said.
“One of the last times that I talked to him, he was telling me that he was making plans that once he was back stateside, he was looking at changing his career path so he would be home more and wouldn't be in the field or deployed so much,” said Terrie Bradlaw, Adonia's mother.
Fernando's body will be returned to San Antonio, possibly this week. He will be buried at San Fernando Cemetery No. 3 on Cupples Road, in a plot next to Albina Santos, the grandmother who raised him.
Daniel Santos, who is handling the funeral arrangements, said that was his nephew's request. Albina Santos and her husband, who is also deceased, raised Fernando virtually from the time he was an infant, after his mother left, said Gilbert Santos, Fernando's father and Albina's son.
Albina Santos was proud of her grandson's military career, Daniel Santos said. And, Fernando, for his part, was excited about his success. Daniel Santos recalled one phone call from a jubilant Fernando.
“He matched his dad's rank,” Daniel Santos said. “He called that he was so happy that he was able to match his father's rank (of staff sergeant). That was one of his highlights.”
Fernando attended John Jay High School in the Northside Independent School District but did not graduate, Adonia said. Instead, he earned his GED while working at Bill Miller Bar-B-Q to help support Adonia and her son, who was a baby back then.
“He was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said. “He was always, always wanting to make me happy.”
When Fernando started hanging around with Adonia's brothers, he was about 13, she said. Several years later, they began dating. After a 10-month courtship, they married in 1996 at Albina's home.
In 1997, Fernando enlisted in the Army. The couple had been in Fort Lewis since 2000, Adonia said.
She said her husband loved his job, and cared about the men in his platoon.
“He schooled them on finances and parenting and marriage and investment,” she said. “He wanted them to be OK when they got out, like you would your own child.
Everybody wanted to be him. He was really funny, quirky. He made everybody laugh. He was strong.”
Fernando was home for a two-week break in February when baby Victor was born — at least a couple of weeks early. Fernando spent a week with the infant before returning to Iraq.
On Thursday, Adonia was feeding the baby and preparing to put him down for a nap when the chaplain came to her door, giving her news that obliterated any plans for a ceremony to renew their vows.
There will still be a ceremony, this one a funereal farewell, and Adonia is sure many will attend.
Daniel Santos, Fernando's uncle, said the family will miss him, but they are proud of him. “I just want the people to recognize him, that he went out there and fought for his country, and proudly,” he said.
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This journal is dedicated to my brother-in-law, Fernando Santos, who was lost to us yesterday, Thursday August 2, 2007, in Bagdhad. Fernando was on his fourth tour and was scheduled to be home in November, however was extended to June of next year. At this time we do not have all the details, but we know that he will be flown into Dover Germany in the next 5-7 days for preparation. He will then be flown home to Texas, where his wife will accept his body.
Fernando was a long time member of our family, as kids we all ran around the neighborhood together, and he was one of my moms many adopted children. He was always smiling and trying to make you laugh, even on your worst day.
He is survived by my sister Adonia Santos, and their four children, Paul, Iliana, Victor, and Daniel.
Please take a moment and pray for our troops and their families who sacrifice daily for this country.
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