Saturday, November 11, 2006

An Alamo soldier is serving in Iraq

Patricia A. Beasley For El Defensor Chieftain

Lawrence Guerro towers over many of us as he makes supreme sacrifices for his family, the United States and the Navajo Nation.

Guerro is the son of Marie and Larry Guerro, of Alamo.

A soldier stationed in Iraq, Guerro spends his time with the Army's First Infantry driving big rigs and Humvees, patrolling, guarding and keeping watch at night.

His biggest challenges — in addition to the separation from his family — come from the extreme climate and the environment of war. He says temperatures reach 130ºF by day and 125ºF by night.

It used to be scary hearing bombs blasting and the sounds of shooting guns, but he's getting used to it, according to his wife, Karrie Chavez.

Guerro and Chavez were actually teenage sweethearts, who graduated from Alamo High School with the Class of 2002. After graduation, they lived and worked on her family's ranch that borders Alamo and stretches to Riley.

In October 2005, Guerro joined the Army. Two months later, the week before Christmas, he took Karrie for his bride.

Guerro completed basic training at Fort Knox in Kentucky. Next, he went through Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Lewis, Mo. He was stationed at Fort Drum in New York before being sent to Iraq for a year's tour of duty the following August.

Guerro e-mails his wife a few times a week, as his duties permit. He's allowed to make one call each month. His superior officers monitor both the e-mails and the phone calls.

"Lawrence sleeps in Humvees more than 10 times a month," Karrie says. "He sleeps in a bed only three times a month."

All in all, Guerro likes Army life. His own father had been in the Army and was stationed in Panama. After a year in the Middle East, Guerro expects to be back in the states for a year before being redeployed for a second year overseas.

Karrie says her husband "might make a career out of (the Army)."

The Guerros have two children: a 3-year-old son, Carter, and a 2-year-old daughter, Hanna.

Grandmother Geneva Chavez does much of the babysitting, while her daughter does ranch work with her father, Victor. When she is not mending fences or branding cattle, this Army wife helps out at the family's Route 60 Trading Post, on First Street in Magdalena.

Karrie says she misses her husband but "has gotten used to (his) being in the Army."

Alamo's military men and women

Recently, Sgt. Johnson Apache returned to Iraq for another tour of duty. Since 9-11, others have served in the Middle East. They include Miguel, son of Violet and Rudy Lucero; and Bruce, Chris and Jeffrey, the three sons of Senaida and Frank Key. The younger Manuel Monte has also served in recent years.

Many other Alamo residents have gone into the military during wartime and in times of peace. Those veterans were honored Thursday at a special ceremony and luncheon in the Alamo Navajo School gym.

In a research project for Alamo's Adult Education Club, three members learned about local people who had enlisted in the military.

Robin Apachito discovered that Staff Sgt. Matthew Guerro had spent 23 years in the Army, including nine months in Baghdad. He had joined the Army to "protect (his) community and country."

Aaron Guerro interviewed Diane Paddock, who had been in the Navy for nine years, with some time spent in the Middle East. Her final comment was to "keep praying for the troops."

Meredith Guerro learned that Alamo resident Roselyn White Hawk, a young woman of the Ogallala Sioux tribe, had served aboard a ship in the Navy in Central America. When asked what knowledge she gained from her project, Meredith said that in the military, "they protect country and family."

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