Hector Leija slain by sniper

RAYMONDVILLE — Hector Leija, a 1997 graduate of Raymondville High School and an Army staff sergeant, was killed in Iraq over the weekend.

The 27-year-old was serving his second tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Defense Department has not yet released details on his death.

According to an entry that he posted on myspace.com Web page, Leija joined the Army when he finished high school. He was stationed in Germany and had served in Macedonia and Kosovo.

His parents, Mingo and Manuela Leija, declined to be interviewed, but friends and relatives say they were notified of Leija’s death on Wednesday.

“He was very outgoing, but did not like to party,” J.P. Tagle, Leija’s second cousin, said. “He always talked about joining the Army, but did not like the war in Iraq.”

Ricardo Soto, a neighbor who lives down the street from the Leijas on West Rockey Avenue, said Leija was like a brother to him.

“I knew him since he was a young boy,” he said, standing outside the Leijas’ wood-framed home. “His family (members) are in shock and don’t want to talk to no one.”

Other neighbors said they remember Leija from before he joined the Army and were stunned to learn that he died in Iraq.

“It’s a sad situation,” Jessica Esparza, a neighbor, said. “I knew that he wanted to go to the Army. He also had a baby.”

Leija’s death caused some initial confusion here as one of his cousins has the same name and graduated from the same high school a year earlier.

“I wasn’t here when he attended this school,” Raymondville High School Principal Gilbert Galvan said, “but I just learned that he was an outstanding young man.”

He said Leija was a National Honor Society student, belonged to the Bible club, played football and was a Future Farmers of America member.

“It hurts,” Galvan said. “We all have children. Our hearts go out to his family.”

Leija is the second soldier from Raymondville and the 21st member of the armed forces from the Rio Grande Valley to die in Iraq since the war began in 2003.

Army Spc. Jessie Davila, 29, also from Raymondville, was killed in February 2006.

From the Herald