Soldier's Death Highlights Warning to Stay Out of México

[Angelhair]

Texas National Guardsmen Pfc.José Gil Hernández , 22, and another man, who were killed on Wednesday on a street in the bloody border city of Ciudad Juárez, crossed the border despite the Guard urging soldiers not on active duty to stay out of México.

The Guard said Hernández had been a soldier since 2007 but was not on active duty.

The Guard prohibits soldiers on active duty from going into Mexico, and urges those who are not to forgo crossing the border unless absolutely necessary, Chief Master Sgt. Gonda Moncada said. It was not clear why Hernández, who lived in El Paso, had gone into Juárez.

The Guard and the FBI said Thursday that Hernández's death was under investigation.

"The Texas National Guard family has lost a friend and fellow Soldier and he will be missed," the Guard said in a statement.

Ciudad Juárez has become one of the world's deadliest cities amid a turf war between the Sinaloa and Juárez drug cartels. More than 2,000 people have been killed this year in the city, which is across the border from El Paso.

Soldiers at the Army's Fort Bliss are no longer allowed to cross the Rio Grande and travel into Juárez, whose nightclubs were once a popular place to party.

Hernández is at least the third American serviceman killed in Juárez since the drug war began. Last year, an off-duty U.S. airman from New Mexico was killed along with five other people when gunmen shot up a bar.

In 2008, a U.S. Marine Corps reservist was shot and thrown off a cliff in the city.

Hernández was a student when not on duty with the Guard, which he served as a fire direction sensor specialist. He was assigned to the Headquarters Battery 3rd Batallion, 133 Field Artillery.

Soldier's Death Highlights Warning to Stay Out of México - Fox News Latino

 

[B. Kidd]

Hernandez had family in Juarez that he stayed with sometimes.

 

[Angelhair]

Yes he did and he is not the only american who has visited Mexico to see relatives and been killed.

 

[Wolfmoon]

Thanks for posting the story! Here is a little more information.

TX National Guardsman Murdered In Mexico, 10/20/10

Jose Hernandez-Ramirez, 21, was shot multiple times as he walked down the street and was killed. His body was found by the local authorities where it laid on the road dead. His family has claimed his body.

“Jose Hernandez-Ramirez ignored warnings from his superiors not to cross into Mexico.”

The incident happened on Wednesday 10/20/10 around 1 p.m. as he was walking down the street in the hood where he lived with his family. He was not in uniform when he was viciously gunned down. It’s not known whether the Toro’s targeted him. The incident is being investigated by the FBI. Most likely the Toro’s knew he was in the American National Guard, especially if he dressed in his uniform and drove into Texas.

The massacre also, killed Rafael Ramirez Reza, 42, who was gunshot multiple times. Another unknown man was taken to the hospital for treatment.

The National Guard had records of Jose Hernandez-Ramirez as a full-time student in El Paso but no colleges have any record of him being enrolled.

The Texas National Guard offered a full military funeral. I wonder if that would only hold true if the family chose to bury their son in America.

SOURCE:

Slain National Guardsman Lived In Mexico
[URL]http://www.kristv.com/news/slain-national-guardsman-lived-in-mexico/[/URL]

Texas National Guardsman shot dead in Mexico
[URL]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39772666/ns/world_news-americas?GT1=43001[/URL]

Texas National Guardsman slain in Mexico
http://www.elpasotimes.com/texas/ci_16391340

Texas National Guardsman Murdered in Mexico, U.S. Officials Say
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/21/texas-national-guardsman-murdered-mexico-officials-say/

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