Photo Caption: Marine Pfc. Rogelio Ramirez of Pasadena was killed Sunday in Iraq. Ramirez became a Marine a year ago and was in Iraq a month before his death. PHOTOGRAPHER: Walt Mancini

Loved ones remember Marine who died in Iraq

Ramirez, 21, attended Pasadena schools
By Emanuel Parker Staff Writer
Article Launched: 08/29/2007 12:26:03 AM PDT

PASADENA - As a child growing up in Oceanside, Rogelio Ramirez idolized the Marines he saw so often at nearby Camp Pendleton.

He longed to be one of them, his father, Jose Ramirez, of Pasadena, said Tuesday.

"I thought he'd grow out of it, but he didn't. He watched the Marines, saw how they lived, saw them work as a team."

But before he could realize that dream, Rogelio had to work past his own demons. Short in stature at 5 feet 5 inches tall, he felt picked on at school because of his size, said his sister, Tina Cordero. As his self-esteem sank, Rogelio lost interest in education, dropped out of Pasadena High School and felt unappreciated.

"It was in his head," she said. "He had some personal issues, some dark moments and times. We always saw the potential in him, but he didn't."

With rekindled determination, however, Ramirez in his late teens tried again to realize his dream of becoming a Marine, his family said.

But before the Corps would accept him, they told Ramirez he had to go back to school and earn his diploma, complete some college credits, clear up some truancy issues and cover over some tattoos, Cordero said.

Ramirez fulfilled all those requirements, she added.

"He was able to climb from that dark place to an honorable place," she said.

A year ago, Ramirez joined the Marines and later was sent to Iraq. He was there just five weeks when his Humvee hit an improvised explosive device.

On Sunday, U.S. Marine Pfc. Rogelio Ramirez was killed in Iraq. As of Monday, at least 3,731 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The 21-year-old Ramirez left behind his immediate family, a girlfriend who is three months' pregnant with his child, and plans to buy a home, raise a family and get into real estate after returning home to Pasadena from his stint in the Marines, his relatives said.

His mother said the family plans to bury the young serviceman at Mountain View Cemetery & Mortuary in Altadena. Funeral plans are pending.

Knowing her son died doing what he wanted to do brings comfort to his family, his mother said.

"He was in the infantry, a gunner," said Irene "Binky" Ramirez. "He wanted to be the first one in. He said, `If I go, I don't want to be the handle on the sword, I want to be the tip of the sword."'

"He wanted to be an American hero," Cordero said. "He was short, but everybody looked up to him. He had more heart than other guys and people liked to be around him. He was always looking to get the maximum potential out of a situation. He took pride in being a man."

Ramirez attended Wilson Middle School before going to Pasadena High.

"He was my little homie," said Carlos Martinez, who attended Pasadena High with Ramirez. "I knew him since the 10th grade. We did the same stuff together. We went through good and bad times together."

Before joining the Marines, Ramirez covered up a tattoo on his side with another, a quotation about war by John Stuart Mill. It read:

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things ... The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

emanuel.parker@sgvn.com

(626) 578-6300, Ext. 4475

Copyright © 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group

PHOTOGRAPHER: Walt Mancini
Caption: Marine Pfc. Rogelio Ramirez of Pasadena was killed Sunday in Iraq. Ramirez became a Marine a year ago and was in Iraq a month before his death.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Walt Mancini
Caption: Marine Pfc. Rogelio Ramirez of Pasadena was killed Sunday in Iraq. Ramirez became a Marine a year ago and was in Iraq a month before his death.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Walt Mancini
Caption: Irene Ramirez 61 of Pasadena, holding a photo of her son Marine Pfc. Rogelio Ramirez Tuesday August 28, 2007, who was killed Sunday in Iraq. Marine Pfc. Rogelio became a Marine a year ago and was in Iraq for a month before he was killed. (SGVN/Photo by Walt Mancini/SXCity)

Annual Pay for Active Duty Enlisted Soldiers

Rank Years of Army Experience

2 Years 4 Years 6 Years

Private—E1 $14,321 $14,321 $14,321
Private—E2 $16,052 $16,052 $16,052
Private First Class $16,884 $19,026 $19,026
Specialist or Corporal $18,698 $21,769 $22,698
Sergeant $20,401 $23,893 $25,567


Source: goarmy web site

Military pay comes from multiple sources.
You get:

Base Pay (only portion which is taxed) 1458.90 (for a PFC)
Basic Allowance for Subsistence (tax free) 279.88
Which results in 1738.78 a month plus all meals and health care. This represents a junior Marine, living in the barracks and single.

If you get married or otherwise do not live in the barracks, you get an extra stipend to pay for your off-base housing. This is tax free as well and covers a wide range based on rank and cost-of-living by zip code. For a PFC in Southern California, it would be an extra 1409.00 for a married Marine. So our theoretical PFC now makes 3147.78 a month. The civillian equivalent would be a bit more given that civillians pay taxes on all their earnings, not just a portion.

When deployed you also get combat pay which is an extra 250 (If I recall) and separations pay which is also another couple hundred. Both of these sums are tax free. In addition, your base pay (the only pay that is taxed) is tax free as long as you are outside the US on orders.

The military also gives you 2.5 vacation days a month.
That's 30 days vacation time each year. Pretty good.

No one gets rich as a Private, PFC, Lance Corporal, etc. However, after your first few years, if you were halfway competent and didn't get into trouble in your offtime (and man can Marines find trouble), you'll be a Corporal or maybe higher and making a good deal more than this.

I don't know about the Marines, but the Army and Air Force, I do.
Like in civilian life, promotions are based not upon military regs but upon the ability to kiss ass and perform 'extra duties' for your superiors.
Female recruits know all about this.

Having worked around Army and Navy (not so much air force though) I have never encountered what you describe. Doesn't mean it's never happened. However, here is the way it works in the Corps.

Every month the Marine Corps publishes what is known as the "cutting score" which is a list, by military occupational speciality (job), of the score you need to get promoted. The Marine Corps score consists of your fitness ability, your shooting range score, how long you have been in, extracurricular courses you have completed (such as finance, college prep math, leadership, etc) as well as your performance reviews.
If you have that score, you get promoted. The scores change throughout the year due to personnel needs. Need more squad leaders, the infantry score to become an non-commisioned officer (Corporal) comes down, need less? it goes up, etc.

The performance reviews are not done by one person in a superior position. Inflated or underrated scores get noticed quick. For that matter, any Marine has the right to an appeal system (a request mast) which will allow him to speak to someone above his seniors who are grading him.

Overall, it's very fair and as objective as something like this can get. "Take care of your Marines and look out for their welfare" is one of the first rules they teach officers and non-commisioned officers.

I meant to say that if your score was equal or greater to the cutting score, you get promoted.

That was what I call a rapid response.
Yes, the military provides certain entitlements for personnel maintenance during immediate service.
[1]
Why don't we discuss the issue of a death's sentence of contamination of U238+ being used in current warfare
[2]
Or with the issue of mortality resulting from this poison in the last Gulf war.
[3]
The experimental vaccinations mandated for active duty.
[4]
Not to mention the fact that for some reason the Corp thinks that it can violate Posse Comitatus.
[5]
Your troops are thieves and guards need to be posted near any Army materials when ever you folks are in the area. It wasn't our fault that the Navy is so cheap skate.

Yeah, I'm bored right now and it's another 3 1/2 hours until the end of the day and the page just refreshes every few minutes. But hey, talk about going off on a tangent! I'm not sure where all that came from!? I follow you on the depleted uranium, yeah inhaling the dust or taking shrapnel of that can produce cancer. Anything short of that doesn't do anything (the radiation can be stopped by a sheet of white paper), though. In general, it's something that the militaries of the world should stop using.

Everything else sounds like a rant, Im sorry but it does.
If I knew more about gulf war syndrome I could agree/disagree with you.

Violate posse comitatus, please explain?

By the way, only the media/public and old guys refer to them as "troops", which kinda tells me who you are and makes me doubt you're very familiar with the military. I have no idea what you're talking about with the navy being cheap..a million bucks a day to run an aircraft carrier, that ain't cheap.

oh my, didn't use your own term as in 'leather head of jar neck or gomer it matters not what I call them.
Are you a government employee on duty, using this chat wire?
My real point is regardless of your opinions, lack of knowledge or interest,
the military of the US is slated for destruction with the deliberate abuse on many levels that they suffer from this current leadership.
The military is a death's sentence now days.

if you say so...

We need to support these people and provide for their care, both physical and psychological from the repeated tours and Uranium saturation some of these infantry dogs ( to be general and unbiased to service arms ) and support personnel have been subjected to.
They're being hung out to die.
Bring our people home. Disband all merc' agencies like Blackwater as they are an obscene offense to a free people.
Don't let another family suffer for lies and evil manipulations of the power of youthful heroism.
Stop this insanity now. Not another tear.
Not for the degenerate psychopaths running this country.

rogelio ramirez was my boy since the 8th grade outta nowhere he took that road to the marines and as far as i know he joined becuse he felt like he had no choice. .... like there was nothing he could do about his life ...he thought the marines would give it to him he was fed the lies of the recruiters but he was my freind and as i became an activist in los angeles he became my opposite and although we had endless disscussions about the war which is thought he was confused(and he must of thought the same) we realized that if the dead is iraqi or american its human life being lost and thats one too many deaths caused by rich mens greed..my last encounter with rogelio was 2 weeks before he deployed to iraq in a brief meeting that was the last time i saw him then i heard he died in iraq and it made me strenghten my thoughts that things need to change ..NO MORE FORIEGN WARS FOR PROFIT NO MORE RECRUITER LIES YA BASTA!!!!!!!!!!

Its been 5 years since that tragic day still stuck in my mind all the way up to where I saw you leave on the helo for the last time you were a great friend ramirez you are still missed to this day I remember being in soi racked across from ya you haven't been forgotn bro we all still miss you wish the best for your family. Rip my brother may god look over you and your baby. I remember when you told me you were having a kid the day before that damn day that stuff happen I remember the truck you were in I just hope you didn't suffer at all I wish you were still alive you were a great marine brother rip my friend I will never forget you bro