Father Shares Memories of Fallen Soldier

Mission resident had earned two Purple Hearts

MISSION - A Mission family is waiting to find out when their son's body will be returned to the Valley.

Army Specialist Alex Gonzalez was killed in Iraq yesterday. NEWSCHANNEL 5 spoke to his father, Alfredo Gonzalez, a man torn between pride and grief.

"I kinda felt it. I knew something was out of the ordinary," he tells us.

"You sure hate to see him go. He was very humble and very proud of what he was doing."

The senior Gonzalez is retired serviceman. Just this month, his son had told him he was determined to become an Army paratrooper.

Alfredo Gonzalez remembers their conversation.

"If you can, just don't deal with explosives no more," he recalls telling his son. "But he said, 'I got a lot of options, Dad. I'll let you know later.' That's the last time I heard of him..."

Gonzalez describes his son as a go-getter. The 21-year-old was injured twice but quickly returned to duty. He earned two Purple Hearts.

The Army specialist told his father he knew the risks.

"If it happens, it's my destiny. But I'll try to come back," he said to his father.

Before his deployment, Gonzalez stood before a war memorial reading the names of the fallen soldiers. His father remembers standing beside him and saying, "I would hate to be looking down and see his name on a plaque. And I was afraid of that. And he said, 'Don't worry Dad. I'll be alright.'"

Now the Army specialist's name will be etched in that granite, and his sacrifice will remembered by his family and a grateful nation.