Eric Vizcaino dies from gunshot wound in 'non-combat related incident'

ALBUQUERQUE -- Army Sgt. Eric Vizcaino was just 21 when he died from a gunshot wound received while on a mission in Baghdad on Sunday.

He leaves behind a wife and daughter at Fort Bragg, N. C., and his parents in Albuquerque

His parents, Eva and Juan Vizcaino of Albuquerque are trying to make it through each day without their only son.

“I feel so sad,” his mother said tearfully.

Juan Vizcaino said he was talking to his son on the phone Sunday when Eric got the word his troop was going on a mission. That was the last time the father and son spoke.

“He says ‘Don't tell my Mom because my Mom will get real nervous. Too nervous when she knows we'll be going to this kind of missions,’” Juan Vizcaino said.

The Army called and told the Vizcainos their son had been shot and that he was in stable condition Monday.

Early Tuesday morning, Juan found out his son was dead.

“To me, that was the baddest news that I get in my life,” the elder Vizcaino said. “And to tell (the family)? I was not even ready to tell them.”

From the time he was a little boy, Eric dreamed of joining the Army.

He even graduated from West Mesa High School a semester early to enlist in the Army for three years. He was planning to re-enlist for another three years in January and to make the Army his career.

“It was kind of like his dream to be in the Army,” his father said. “He said, ‘You know what? I'm sure I'm going to die in the Army. He wants to die in the Army.

“He was my hero even before this happened to us.”

“He's our hero,” his mother said, adding in Spanish that she feels very proud of her son.

Eric was the eldest of three children and the Vizcaino’s only son.

He is survived by his wife Sabrina, his high school sweetheart, and their 2-year old daughter Jasmine.

The young family lived on the Army base at Fort Bragg.

Vizcaino is the 26th New Mexico service member to die in Iraq and the Middle East since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Memorial services for Vizcaino are planned for Thanksgiving Day at 11 a.m. at San Jose Parish in Albuquerque.

A Sunday service will be at 8:30 a.m. at San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church in Old Town.

From KRQE 13