Roadside Bomb Kills Mission Soldier

Rubio survived by wife and 11-month-old baby

MISSION - A Mission's soldier was one of four people who died in Iraq this weekend.

Army Specialist Jose "Joe" Rubio was killed over the weekend in southern Baghdad, after a roadside bomb blew up near the vehicle he was in. It happened in the area of the capital known as the Green Zone. It's supposed to be a safety area that houses the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi headquarters.

Rubio lived with his wife, Jennifer, in a small Mission apartment behind a family flower shop. Family and friends gathered at the shop to mourn the loss.

Rubio and his wife had an 11-month-old baby. The child was born when Rubio was in basic training in Georgia.

Jennifer Rubio says, "We were there a couple of months before he was deployed, so he got to spend a little time with him."

She tells us Rubio enlisted almost two years ago, because he wanted a better education. He was deployed to Iraq in October.

She says she never could have imagined her husband would be on the front lines.