Jesus Montalvo remembered

Jesus Montalvo's 12 brothers and sisters in Mayaguez say he used to phone home from Iraq, asking them to sing him plenas -- Puerto Rican ballads. This Christmas, their brother won't be here to accompany them on the pandereta drum and the cuatro guitar. Those pictured (from left) are: Segismundo Lopez Montalvo, Leo Montalvo, Olga Montalvo and Clarissa Montalvo.

Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, but they lack some of the rights of citizenship, including the right to vote for president. Yet they have served, and died, in the military for generations. Since 2003, dozens of Puerto Ricans have been killed in Iraq. Mandalit del Barco visits some of their families.

"It's as though Puerto Rico were crying," says Leo Montalvo, as he looks out the window at the downpour from a tropical thunderstorm that's coming down hard on the city of Mayaguez. He and some of his 12 brothers and sisters are gathered at the house, grieving over word that their 46-year-old-brother Jesus was gunned down in combat, just four days before his mission was to end. He was reportedly the 55th soldier from this island to die while fighting for the United States in Iraq. Montalvo's family buried him Sunday.

"The Puerto Rican skies are protesting," Montalvo says, as the thunder roars. He remembers how his brother used to phone home from Iraq, asking the family to sing him plenas -- Puerto Rican ballads. This Christmas, Jesus won't be here to accompany them on the pandereta drum and the cuatro guitar. But they'll still tell stories about how he nicknamed himself Randall after a character on the old TV show Combat. And they talk about how he was a police officer in Mayaguez many years ago, before he started his career in the Army.

"He was always willing to serve and protect, you know. The armed forces, the militia, was in his blood. He knew what the risk was," says Segismundo Lopez Montalvo, who was two years younger than his uncle Jesus. They grew up as brothers. Just last month, Lopez says Montalvo came to him in a dream, to say goodbye.

"He was the all-American guy, he believed in the United States," Lopez says. "I disagree with the reasons why they made this war. But one thing is for sure -- I really miss him. He was my hero. I have a hole in my heart. That's the only way I can describe it."

Among the mementos on display in the living room is a photo of Staff Sgt. Montalvo in uniform playing with an Iraqi child. His death leaves his own four children without a father.

From NPR