Virgie Bell's View: Outrage of the Aliens of the Illegal Sort

I cannot believe the outraged people in Roswell, NM. Outrage is one thing but demanding rights you don’t have are quite another! I’m speaking of the pregnant teenaged girl at school who was deported and others that probably should be are screaming for their rights.

If I went to school and committed a traffic violation while going to my classes, I would expect the officer in charge of watching out for my school to target me as a violator. In fact, if he did not, I would know immediately that he was not doing the job for which he is being paid, and paid by our tax dollars. He would expect me to carry my driver’s license. A driver’s license and insurance are mandatory or at least they should be. As far as dealing with me in a small town this officer could take me at my word that I have left them at home but will bring it the next day. If I did not, then it would be up to the officer in question to see that I had a clean record and the only way would be to start at the beginning of this legal procedure. In this case, with my status, that would have to be the immigration. Laws of the United States are kept by a paper trail. This is the law to protect the people of my country. It is my assurance that I am indeed surrounded by my fellow citizens. The most basic being part of a neighborhood watch committee. We cannot hope for our local law enforcement to be everywhere at all times.

For a democracy that is of the people, by the people, and for the people, there are the rules of a civilized society. These are the basic laws that wars are fought over and where the blood of my countrymen has been shed...above all things...these things. The foundation of any nation cannot hope to exist otherwise. It takes no rocket scientist to figure the way something like this works. Others are depending on you to do your part so this officer can take care of our most precious treasure, our American children.

We pay to see to our children’s safety at school. We tax payers expect this to be enforced. We do not want our children to sit in classrooms with those who do not belong here legally. It is not a hide out for a pregnant girl carrying a baby. In the Middle East, this is a favored deceptive way for a person to carry a bomb. At any rate, it is the law and I expect my country and its laws to be treated with respect. We have immigration laws in place and these laws are in existence because a certain number of people from other countries come here to become legal and law abiding citizens. They do not need to go through a certain processing while someone else takes it upon themselves to skip all laws and then demand the rights that someone else is entitled—and no racial or religious organization has the right to circumvent these laws. I was born and raised in this country.

80% of the American people said we wanted secure borders. We want secure schools and we fully and rightfully expect our officers to enforce these laws. The girl had no home address and no one that we could contact if she needed someone in case of an emergency; but first and foremost, she broke the laws of this country. Just go on back to wherever you came from and make your government do your bidding and don't try to tell us, the American public, what we should do until your tax dollar chips in. If you are green, yellow, black or the color purple, if you are white, red, or brown and proud. Just make sure you are legal with a respect for us and our laws.

SUPPORT THE TROOPS!

New Mexico Gold Stars

Click on image to view better.

Although the captured photo above involves news that is a little dated, it is in November-December’s issue of The Gold Star Mother. I wanted to share it with you since it involves New Mexico. And mostly I wanted to share it because of Becky Christmas, a New Mexico Gold Star Mom. I also went to school with Becky. She doesn’t remember me like I remember her because she was three years ahead of me in school here in Lovington. A varsity cheerleader she was, and I thought there could be nothing better than that at the time. Becky Lee was and is a vibrant beauty.

A small piece is printed below concerning the tragic accident involving her son, Todd Christmas. Todd, like others we hear of that survived Iraq, and eventually gave their lives while still serving. God bless you, Becky.

Becky is heavily involved in New Mexico’s Gold Star Mothers. I’ve not been very involved as I live five hours from where most events take place, but I do read their news and appreciate those who remain so heavily involved. When I first became a Gold Star Mom in New Mexico, so many of them had given so much for so many years, and I guess the new blood, new life in the program can be looked at in a number of ways, but for this moment, I just want to thank them, all of them.

Below is some about the crash. Many of you may remember this as it was startling news.

The helicopter, a UH-60L Black Hawk, crashed on November 29, 2004, collided with guy wires supporting a television broadcasting tower near Waco, Texas, on a foggy morning in November 2004. (At the time of the helicopter crash, the television tower’s warning lights were not functioning, a violation of Federal Communications Commission and Federal Aviation Administration regulations), shortly after taking off from Fort Hood, Texas, killing all seven soldiers aboard. Victims included Brigadier General Charles B. Allen of Lawton, Oklahoma; Specialist Richard L. Brown of Stonewall, Louisiana; Chief Warrant Officer Todd T. Christmas of Wagon Mound, New Mexico; Chief Warrant Officer Doug Clapp of Greensboro, North Carolina; Chief Warrant Officer Mark W. Evans of Killeen, Texas; Chief Warrant Officer David H. Garner of Mason City, Iowa; and Colonel James M. Moore of Peabody, Massachusetts.

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How's every little thing?

Isn't the tiny bit of blue in these pictures beautiful?

I got someone to snap these photos for me while I was at Dad’s today. This tree was located closely behind his apartment, and hopefully you can see it’s been uprooted. This is from the storm last night. Winds around here got up to 93 miles. Someone in Tatum lost their roof and their home was set on fire from falling high line wires. One of Dad’s neighbors said he heard over the radio that we did have a tornado touch down here, but I’m not sure about that yet. We certainly may have; there were three or four more trees like this at Chaparral Park.

Unlike us, Dad didn’t lose his electricity.

Don’t worry if you don’t get all the limbs picked up today. Another storm is due in this evening.

We are having a major storm! Our power is out right now and I'm on battery, so we'll see how it goes. High winds, pelting rain, lots of nice thunder and lightning. The babies are tucked in close.

I figure I've got about an hour unless the electricity comes back on, and that could be a while. It kicked off twice, but the back-up plan handled everything okay... til now. Bless their hearts. Dangerous time for them.

Hopefully, I will bring something else out on the blog tonight.

N.M. soldier killed in Iraq shortly before return home

by FELICIA FONSECA Associated Press
June 24, 2007

Los Lunas grad joined military soon after high school

ALBUQUERQUE — A New Mexico soldier, who was scheduled to return home just days after the birth of his son, has died in Iraq.

Army Cpl. Joel Dahl, 21, died during small arms fire Saturday near Baghdad, said his stepfather, Joe Aragon, who has raised Dahl since he was about 10. He was one of seven U.S. troops killed by roadside bombers. An eighth soldier died of a noncombat cause.

Aragon said doctors are planning to induce labor on Dahl’s wife, Alia, on Friday. Dahl was set to leave Iraq on July 2.

“She wanted to surprise him with his baby when he got here,” Aragon said.

The Dahls, who were married last September, already had picked out a name for their baby boy — Kayden Anthony — which they came up with by looking through a book of baby names.

Dahl also liked the name because it meant his son would have the same three initials as his wife, although not in the same order.


When the couple first met in church, Aragon said Alia couldn’t stand her husband. But he was determined, Aragon said, to get the girl he fell for. “When he finally got to talk to her, he charmed her over,” Aragon said.

Alia is having a “very hard time” coping with her husband’s death, and Aragon said the family is trying to keep her as calm as possible. “But given the circumstances, it’s hard,” he said.

Dahl graduated from Los Lunas High School, where he was a part of the school’s ROTC program, and joined the military soon after.

Aragon said Dahl planned to use that experience as a stepping stone into law enforcement.

“He was just the kind of person where he liked being in public service,” Aragon said. “He was a person that liked helping other people.”

Even when it came to boosting his stepfather’s dragon collection.

Dahl had called his wife the day before Fathers Day and asked her to find “something special” for Aragon and to keep in mind his admiration for dragons. “He had her running all over the place,” he said.

What she came up with, Aragon said, was a “beautiful little lamp” with a dragon painted on it. “I was all excited about it,” Aragon said.

He and his stepson talked a day or two later, and Aragon said he let Dahl know the only thing he didn’t like about the call was that it came at 2 o’clock in the morning.

In Iraq, it was noon.

“That was pretty much the last time I talked to him,” Aragon said.

freenewmexican.com

Seems to be a day for important announcements....

Grassfire.org AllianceBush-Kennedy Amnesty Bill Update

To: Gregory Miller

Gregory,

Bush and the Amnesty Senators are now preparing to bring the Bush-Kennedy Amnesty bill back for a vote immediately. Yesterday, Commerce Secretary Gutierrez said the administration is "more determined than ever" to pass amnesty and Tony Snow added that the Senate "could wrap this up in two days." Now, Bush has scheduled a meeting with Senate Republicans on Tuesday to plan strategy and Majority Leader Reid is saying he is ready to move the bill to a vote. Gregory, I am outraged and you should be as well. Just last week, the American people soundly rejected Bush-Kennedy Amnesty. The New York Times even featured Grassfire.org and three of our team members in a Page One lead story yesterday entitled "Grass Roots Roared". Now, they are bringing amnesty back! See the NY Times article linked here: http://www.grassfire.org/19042/offer.asp?rid=12937225

Two crucial action items:

Action Item #1-- Call Your Senators and the White House and tell them to "Back Off"!
Sen. Bingaman (202) 224-5521
Sen. Domemici (202) 224-6621
White House Switchboard: 202-456-1414
White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111

Talking Points:
1. I am outraged that the President and the Senate are again planning on pushing this amnesty bill.

2. I am offended that these leaders are ignoring the clear voice of grassroots Americans.

3. I call on you to announce publicly your opposition to the Bush-Kennedy amnesty bill and call on the Senate to abandon plans for further debate.

Action #2 -- Fax the President and Senate NOW! I know you have done so much already, but we cannot stop now. We have added key Bush Administration targets to our Fax Hot List, in addition to key Senators who must be reached today with a flood of faxes. Go here to send your faxes:

http://www.grassfire.org/19042/offer.asp?rid=12937225

Our staff and contacts on the Hill sensed all along that the Amnesty Gang would bring this bill back. Now, they have made their intentions perfectly clear. The New York Times said that the "Grass Roots Roared" in opposition to Bush-Kennedy Amnesty. Well, now we must roar even louder! Thanks for your immediate action!

Steve Elliott, President
Grassfire.org

P.S. I included links on my FireSociety blog to the news article where the Commerce Secretary and Tony Snow made their comments. Go here to read those articles and give me your comments.

http://www.firesociety.com/blog/100/14417/?src=111

Who does this?

New Mexico Man Arrested for Drunk Driving for the 28th Time
Friday, June 01, 2007

ALBUQUERQUE — An Albuquerque man arrested for the 28th time on a drunken driving charge has pleaded not guilty.

Joseph Brill, 53, entered his plea Tuesday to charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated, driving on a suspended license and having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle.

Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies arrested Brill in an Albuquerque neighborhood on March 14. Deputies said they saw him park, then fall out of his pickup truck.

The deputies said they tried to give him a field sobriety test, but he could not complete it. They said he then refused a breath test.

A criminal complaint said Brill had 27 prior DWI offenses, with at least 14 convictions, before the arrest.

State District Judge Ernesto Romero set bond at $100,000.

"The probabilities are if you get behind the wheel, you're going to hurt or kill somebody," the judge said.

FOXNews.com

BUSTED!!

Sorry for the late hour on getting anything posted.

I’ve been contacted by an AP reporter who has been doing her homework out on the campaign trail in New Hampshire. Aaron’s name has been used at least twice. Not as derogatory to Aaron, but in a way I find very condescending to families, not to mention his use of Aaron’s name and particulars do not contain even one iota of fact. I won’t write her story for her, but she told me a little bit ago that she’s doing the story today and will send me a link. When she does, I’ll share it with you.

I really didn’t need this right now, but I am glad to find it out. Maybe her piece will help stop this sort of thing.

Sickening.

But I’ll return. I want to do ROLL CALL first.

Virgie Bell's View: An I for an I

There was quite a bit written in the Albuquerque paper that involves two subjects. One of them is about how unfair we in the USA are to illegal aliens and of course, the War on Terror. The writings were from different people with different views. Anyone who reads my posts knows how I feel about these issues.

First of all, the town by the name of Farmers Branch, which is close to Dallas, has made it illegal to rent property without proof that they are here legally. Those who do so will have to pay a fine. I have mentioned before and will again, that as far as that goes, there will always be illegals who reside and work in our country, but to make demands on our country as to rights that are due to those who break the law, let me say that I for one, see no rights that belong to them once they have crossed the border and broken our law.

Those from New Jersey had plans to kill our soldiers at Fort Dix, which it turns out, three were here illegally and had a total of forty-nine tickets for everything from driving with a suspended license, having controlled substances upon their person, and many others, yet nothing was done about these violations. They never even showed up for the court hearing, and that too was ignored. One must realize that as far as this goes, there are some, and I could say many, who look to these illegals for votes. Much is said about how the Republican Party caters to wealth instead of health. I disagree totally with that remark. I have observed that there are those that receive very good health care under the Bush administration. Two that I know receive more advantages under this administration than the previous one. They also have help provided by the state to help with cleaning and cooking, etc. If that is poor health care, then I would like to share in the disadvantage.

Lisa now works grooming dogs and in the general care of domestic animals, and she loves the job. Before that she was a substitute teacher. The ‘No Child Left Behind’ caused one boy to have a class by himself. She was very good at this job and dearly loved the wheelchair confined boy. No one else wanted the job, and in fact refused to take it. She was his teacher for all of one year, but as the second term rolled around, his mother, who spoke no English, demanded that he have a teacher who spoke Spanish. Lisa was pulled from that job because of this. He was born here and his parents were not legal, but this demand was made, met, and enforced with our tax dollars picking up the tab; multiply this by the millions and you get an idea where we are at this point in time as far as immigration goes. Actually Lisa was ready to leave this job behind and to work with pets instead of children, so the complaint is not one that she feels bad about, as she was just filling out the year anyway. But I can tell you, as a taxpayer, I did not like it a little bit.

De'on and I also had a woman who worked for us cleaning each week. She, as far as I know, was legal. She had a grown son who was born here and we dearly loved her. She had been in this country for at least thirty years or more, and yet she and I could not converse in the slightest. She did not speak English except for a few words, and I don’t know Spanish, but here is the difference. If I had lived in Mexico for that length of time, I would have learned to speak in the Spanish tongue. As a matter of courtesy, if for no other reason. We are a hodge-podge of nationalities in this country, true, but nonetheless, English is the native tongue. It was a matter of pride to her that she kept her native tongue. She was born in Old Mexico. She owned or at least operated a small trailer park here in Lovington. No one that spoke English could have rented a space because of the language barrier. I felt resentment. Not of the woman herself, but of the fact that she refused to assimilate into the country she had become a member of. She had a Mexican Flag wrapped around her shoulders in attitude, if not in fact. I never was comfortable with it. I do not for a minute feel any sympathy for that type of behavior. De'on heard me express the feeling I had and she assured me that it was hard to learn another language; I disagreed then and still do. I am finding that any product anymore has instructions in not only English, but Spanish and French. I have learned many different words in other languages just from my being one who buries her nose in a book at every opportunity, but at any rate, that is a first hand experience that I have reasons for feeling the way I do. You know it is just a little insulting to me.

We had a woman who had cancer in our family. Lubbock Texas is just a couple of hours drive from us. They are the hospital destination of choice. They are convenient and have the skill required for treatment in any area. This woman did not have hospitalization and had to go to Albuquerque for free treatment as she was not the State of Texas’ responsibility. Medicaid works in that way which is understandable.

Maria, the woman who became dear to us as a friend, (The language of love is not a spoken thing but one from the heart that conveys itself anyway) had a sister who lives in Old Mexico. She was able to go to Albuquerque for her treatment. She stayed two or three days and then went back to her country. Of course this is not supposed to happen. Our citizens should be taken care of first. I resented it at the time and I still do. I am not for paying a medical bill that should be the responsibility of the government of Mexico. We are just about taxed out in this county. Much is said about tax cuts for the wealthy by the Democratic Party. I would like to say to them that my family is one of the taxpayers who are not wealthy, yet we pick up the tabs on these illegal and unjust bills. The taxpayers in the state of Texas pay over a billion dollars a year to educate the children that go to their schools. Of course, it cuts down on what we are able to do for our own children. It is not right and no one can make me think otherwise.

Now, as to the War on Terror. The Democrats go on and on about how we were lied to because they did not find weapons of mass destruction. I heard Clinton, Kerry, and Ted Kennedy, in fact all the contenders in that party, proclaim that these weapons existed. Yet now, they scream Bush lied to the American people. Well, I just want to say to all of them, if it was a lie, then you all lied. I listened to all of you do so. It is not something that I will condone. My great grandmother and great grand father had a little bit of mineral rights and by the time it was passed out to the heirs, within a year’s time, it comes to less than a hundred dollars of royalty for each of us, but I will never take the position of voting against my family in voting to condemn a party because of the oil industry. The little checks go to my granddaughter. I have never cashed any of them. My sister is against big oil, as she calls it. I am for little oil. The small little checks that came from the blood that flows within my veins. I make no apology for that or for the fact that I speak no Spanish. My grandson died to defend my rights and I will always SUPPORT THE TROOPS!

Update on Ramos

Steve Ramos did not show up for his arraignment today.

There is a bench warrant for his arrest.

Mexico, perhaps?

One of the articles ... I know there will be many

As the mother of the one Marine that was killed that day, he was the only one that day, but as the mother of that Marine, I want to point out that "the best day of his life" has to do with this:

He watched the men he had trained and commanded fight as a unit, as brothers, as Marines. When they were ambushed they were not only

up to task, they were true

DEVIL DOGS!

and they ARE

Semper Fi!

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Subject of Times profile dies in Iraq
Marine Maj. Douglas Zembiec said he 'never felt so alive' as in battle.
By Tony Perry , Times Staff Writer, Times Staff Writer
9:36 PM PDT, May 11, 2007


— Maj. Douglas Zembiec, a Marine Corps officer profiled in the Los Angeles Times magazine in 2004, has been killed while leading a raid on insurgents in Baghdad, officials reported Friday.

Details of his death on Thursday were sketchy.

In an age when many prefer military personnel to be diffident and reluctant to engage in violence, Zembiec was proudly a throwback.

"One of the most noble things you can do is kill the enemy," he once said.

Zembiec, 34, received a Bronze Star with a V for valor for leading an infantry company in repeated assaults against insurgents in the Sunni Triangle city of Fallouja in 2004.

Bloodied by shrapnel, Zembiec led his troops in combat so close that the two sides were hurling grenades from 20 feet apart. He later was part of low-profile missions in Afghanistan to thwart the resurging Taliban.

Zembiec seemed to revel in the experience of combat. In the magazine article, he was quoted as calling a firefight in Fallouja "the greatest day of my life."

"I never felt so alive, so exhilarated, so purposeful," he said the day after a battle in which two of his troops were killed and 18 wounded. "There is nothing equal to combat and there is no greater honor than to lead men into combat."

Zembiec was widely admired among Marines.

"We can dispute the politics of any war — Iraq, Afghanistan or any others," said Bing West, author of two books about combat Marines in Iraq, "but we cannot dispute our need for warriors. Doug was our guardian."

Sgt. Maj. William Skiles, who fought beside Zembiec at Fallouja, said he inspired great loyalty among his troops. "An entire company of Marines would trade places with him right now," Skiles said from Camp Pendleton. "They would put down their lives for him."

Zembiec was a star wrestler at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1995. Classmates still tell "Zembiec stories" about his pranks as a plebe and his determination in the wrestling ring.

While attending the academy, he decided the Marine Corps offered more challenge than the Navy. "I wanted to be a defender, defending my country," he said.

After Fallouja, Zembiec was promoted to major and given a desk job at the Pentagon. Restive, he volunteered to fight in Afghanistan. More recently, he returned to Iraq.

He is survived by his wife, Pam Zembiec, and their 1-year-old daughter, Fallon.

copied from latimes.com

A New Devil Dog!

I’ve been visiting this afternoon with an old friend from junior high and high school. It’s been several years since I’ve talked, really talked, with him. It was kind of like being back in that day when we used to sell each other cigarettes for a nickel a piece, thus doubling the price of what a cigarette cost back in the good old days.

Steve Demory is his name and he just lives a block away. He was visiting with Roy and Lisa a while back and mentioned that he often saw me in the yard, but hadn’t felt comfortable stopping in to check on me since it had been so many years. Roy convinced him that it would be no problem and little discomfort for Steve if he stopped in on me. That’s been several months ago.

I saw him pull up this afternoon and went out to greet him. He handed me a Marine flag and said, “Here, I brought you this … I know you already have one …”

Steve returned just four days ago from spending a week or so with his younger son, Adam, who has just graduated from Boot Camp at Camp Lejuene. Steve was sporting a red USMC cap and was beaming. “Boy, that’s really something….” he said, referring to the ceremony he'd attended.


He sounded much like we all do after that unforgettable day that the awesome sons and daughters we raised move from status of Recruit to that of Marine.

Congratulations from gUnz uP goes out to
Private Adam Demory, USMC!
God bless you and thank you for serving!

Semper Fi!

Dear Soldiers:

I wanted to share this with you. Laura West brought this paper by to me because she knew I’d be happy about it. The Lovington students are writing to the troops overseas and it looks as if Laura and her group of volunteers have collected nearly 3,000 letters.

I don’t know that you can read Abram’s letter that is pictured, but here’s what it says:

Dear sirs,
My name is Abram.
I’m in the first grade. I like soccer and bascet ball. Thank you for saving us.
Love, Abram

Marie Wadsworth from the News-Sun (The Hobbs newspaper) writes: “This is the letter Lea Elementary first-grader Abram Soto wrote to a service member overseas in class Tuesday. On top he drew a colorful picture of a child scoring a goal from almost the opposite end of the basketball court.”

“Many of Soto’s classmates wrote similar letters, but all of them had the same ending.”

***

The article then elaborates on the letters and what Laura and other volunteers are doing to support our troops.

On a personal note, I met Laura over a year ago. As it turned out, Laura’s mother was (and still is) a member of our Friendship Bible Coffee on Monday mornings, but I didn’t know that when I first met Laura.

She came to my door one evening because she had noticed my Gold Star in the window. She came to thank me for Aaron’s service and sacrifice even though she hadn’t known him.

Her brother served in Iraq for a year in 2004, but somehow Laura’s patriotism mirrors more than that of a sister. Her commitment and regard for our troops as well as our freedom caused her to knock on the door of a stranger and to spearhead the letter writing project.

Laura, through her church here in Lovington, is able to help raise money for packages for our troops while providing the donor with a receipt for tax purposes. She hopes this way that donors feel free to reach in their pockets.

While Laura spearheads the campaign for CARE, she is not the one who started the grass roots operation. That person used her own funds a great deal of the time as well as private donations from friends of the community. She has continued to do so. This wonderful woman, Bobbee, has two daughters. Though she lost a dear friend at the end of Vietnam, a Marine from Lovington, she has no other ties to the military except to be a very staunch supporter of the troops.

Lovington can be a wonderful place to live. gUnz uP takes this opportunity to thank Laura and Bobbee as well as the many that help to support them. And no doubt, we definitely appreciate the students.

Yea! Lovington Wildcats!

Shock & Awe: The Diary March ... April 7, 2003 and today!

Won't you be glad when I quit writing in pencil? I used many, many pencils and erasers during this time as I was also fighting my way through the vast and lonely desert of College Algebra.

There are times in your life when you are so glad that something is behind you. This particular time is one of those for me. Without Greg, my animals, my Lovington family (I was only able to be at home on weekends by this stage of my college career!!) and with Aaron in Iraq and me in Algebra, oh, Lord...

It's good we can't see into our futures. And it's good to be sitting here in my den with most everything and everyone I love. And to know where my kids are.

God truly is so good. He is so good. And so are you. I'm feeling the love, Man!!

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It's a good day to be inside posting here in the desert.... A few flakes of snow are on the ground here. Wild, huh? But it's been wilder. I remember an 11" snow in Lubbock about mid-April one year. It was '83, I think.

I was working at Lubbock State School. Aaron was less than a year old, for sure. I was about to start my three day weekend that only came around every 5-6 wks., and Aaron and I were going to Lovington. I worked from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM, and by the time I got off, we were covered in snow. My car got stuck, and thankfully someone picked me up. Though it took an hour to get there (or so it seemed), we were finally able to get Aaron picked up from the sitter and get us safely tucked in without milk or cigarettes! My car was towed by the city and it took me three days to track it down. When the roads cleared a little bit, Mom made it to Lubbock and got me squared away again. I can't even remember what I did about the milk and cigarettes.... That one must have been frightening enough that I've totally blocked it!

Is everybody coloring EASTER EGGS today? I've got some Easter things I'll share later. It requires going through and scanning. But it will be so great to share.

Our children's personalities are molded early on. Enjoy watching them hunt. What kind of hunters are your children?

Later...

Thank You and RIP, Marine LCpl Steven Chavez, gunner

Friday, March 16, 2007

N.M. Marine Killed in Iraq

By Rene Romo
Journal Southern Bureau

LAS CRUCES— Marine Lance Cpl. Steven Chavez, 20, died in Iraq doing what he had dreamed of since his childhood— being a soldier, his father said Thursday.

Steven Chavez's family in the Hondo Valley of south-central New Mexico was informed of the Marine's death about 8 p.m. Wednesday, about 15 hours after his last phone call home.

His father, Eddie Chavez, said his son shipped out of Camp Pendleton in California in September and arrived in Kuwait in November, shortly before traveling to a base in Ramadi, Iraq.

Steven Chavez "only had one more week out, and then he was coming back," his father said in a telephone interview.

"He said, 'Dad, do you have my fishing rod ready?' '' Eddie Chavez recalled of the 5 a.m. call from his son Wednesday morning. "I said, 'I'll get it ready, and we'll go.' ''

Chavez was a gunner with what his father called the 2-4 Marine Division.

Chavez was a 2005 graduate of Hondo Valley High School, his father said. He was athletic and loved the outdoors— fishing, hunting and camping. He was a 4-H member for at least six years, participated in track and basketball and excelled as a linebacker in six-man football, his father said.

Eddie Chavez served 12 years in the Army as a combat engineer, and, as a boy, Steven Chavez told his father that he, too, wanted to be a soldier. Since sixth grade, his father said, Steven Chavez's favorite clothing was camouflage gear.

"I can remember him always running around the hills here in camo," next-door neighbor Danelle Martel said. "He died living his dream, and he died for us."

Steven Chavez joined the Marines just months after graduating from high school.

The Department of Defense had not confirmed Chavez's death late Thursday. The circumstances of his death were still unclear, Eddie Chavez said.

Steven Chavez is survived by a sister, Jackie Chavez, 22; a brother, James Chavez, 11; his father; and his mother, Novelda Chavez.

If his death is confirmed by the Department of Defense, Chavez will be the 31st serviceman from, or with close ties to, New Mexico to be killed in the Middle East.

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Gunz Up honors LCpl. Chavez. We thank him and his family for their precious son's service and for his life's sacrifice for us and the lifetime of sacrifice by his family.

GOD keep you.

Virgie Bell's View: Just a Smokin'!

A bill has passed by NM legislature to make medical marijuana legal in our state and I say good for them. Bill Richardson says he will sign it into law. They also have passed a law to ban smoking statewide in all public places. So far, the traffic around my house is going strong. We breathe more fumes from exhaust pipes than we ever could as smokers. Oh well, sin tax it is and sin tax it will always be. My Dad smoked four or five packs a day and he would have been better off if he could have been a little worse off with heart or lungs. It would have been easier than liver failure or the long slow death of other diseases.


Shepard Smith got to me the other evening when he was announcing this big anti-smokers program. I wonder how many DWIs are on the highway. I guarantee you won’t have many smokers. We will stop by some quick stop and buy a case and just stay home and watch the ballgame or work in the yard. A few years ago I was in the courthouse here, a non-smoking place, and decided to go outside and smoke. Well, it turns out the restroom is just right there close. One of the clerks got mixed up where I was going and nearly passed out telling me I couldn't smoke in there. Before I could stop myself I told her I wouldn’t take a smoker’s break around them anyway.


I’ve drawn the death watch with my loved ones many times, mostly because I was good at it. I stayed with my Mom the last ten days in a nursing home. As you know by now, I am a person that gets into what makes the world go round. At every hour on the hour the smokers would line up at the nurses station to get a cigarette and then set in a row and enjoy that thing that was going to kill them, but then they outlived all but a few of their most hateful family members. Here they sat doing themselves in peacefully while the non smokers just sat and stared and sat and stared and sat and stared, if you get my meaning. I asked the nurse on duty which group was the happiest in the rest home. The smoker by a landslide. Sometimes the smallest thing can make a difference, especially if all you have left to look forward to is simply every hour on the hour.

I quit one time for three months and I detested every moment of it. I think Lisa may be mistaking our reservations about going with her somewhere. In her new car she has no ashtray, which is her choice of course, but it ends chumming around. Let people know how you feel and that is fine. Now De'on stays home more. And I will too. I gave up one ride that I enjoyed to get a coke with or so on. I asked Roy one time if I could smoke in his house and he said, “Hell, yes,” like it was a dumb question. Now that is a non-smoker I can be around.

As for new car smells, I found out on Gunz Up that mohair is no longer used on the interior of an automobile, and it was the mohair we smelled. I know one thing, you will never have to worry about me being drunk while driving, and you will never have to worry that I won't SUPPORT THE TROOPS!