LOMITA, Calif. -- Eight years ago, Jose Gutierrez risked death for a better life in America. He found foster parents and several new brothers and sisters, went to high school, then joined the Marine Corps.
Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, 22, became an infantry rifleman with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, according to Camp Pendleton officials in early September. This month, he became the first combat casualty of the war in Iraq.
"He was fighting for the port city of Umm al Qasr, which is important to the U.S. so we can bring humanitarian aid into the country," said Marine Capt. James Rich, who has been counseling Gutierrez's foster family since notifying them of his death.
Young and alone, Gutierrez crossed into Southern California after taking a series of trains through Mexico, family members said. "I know it was real rough," Gutierrez's foster brother Max Mosquera said.
Gutierrez was one of the lucky ones. He was taken in by a family. Marcelo Mosquera, a machinist from Ecuador, and his wife Nora Mosquera, a marketing representative from Costa Rica, became surrogate parents to Gutierrez.
He dreamed of becoming an architect.
"He was just a really good kid. He was studying hard," his foster brother said. "He had a plan. He joined the Marines to pay back a little of what he'd gotten from the U.S. For him it was a question of honor."
The Spanish style two-story house Gutierrez called home in this community 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles had a flag hanging at half-staff on the garage. The front porch was lined with pots of geraniums. Each pot held a flag and a sign that read "United We Stand."
Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala notified Gutierrez' sister Sunday night. The woman, whose name was not immediately released, lives in a poor section of Guatemala City and was listed as his only next-of-kin in military records, said Guatemalan Consul General Fernando Castillo of Los Angeles.
"She does not have a phone, so it is difficult to reach her," Castillo said. He said Gutierrez' sister hoped to bring her brother's body back to Guatemala.
Gunnery Sgt. Willie Ellerbrock, from the Naval Marine Corps Air Center in Long Beach, said the family was tentatively planning a funeral in Guatemala and Marines from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala would provide an honor guard at the service. They were also trying to work it out so the Mosquera family could attend.
Neighbors described Gutierrez as quiet but friendly. "I used to see him playing with his two little brothers," neighbor Rebecca Mendez said. "That really impressed me. Now I only wish I would have taken a bit more time to talk to the kid," she added.