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MIA-Captured Soldiers from D Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division out of Ft. Drum, NY
SGT Alex Jimenez
In the pre-dawn hours of May 12th, 2007, a devastating enemy attack on a D/4-31 observation post near Qarghuli Village, Iraq resulted in the untimely deaths of five US Soldiers and one Iraqi Army Soldier. Two Polar Bears at the observation post during the attack, SGT Alexander Jimenez and PFC Byron Fouty were captured by insurgents and remain missing to this day. Currently, there are three US Soldiers categorized by the Department of Defense as Missing-Captured while serving Operation Iraqi Freedom, SGT Jimenez and PFC Fouty of the 4-31 Polar Bears are two of those three.
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Boston Herald
Family of Lawrence soldier marks sad anniversary
By O’Ryan Johnson | Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
Maria Duran said when her sister breaks down and cries, she tells her to calm down. And when her other sister is overcome by guilt for getting the paperwork and helping her nephew join the army, Maria Duran tells her it’s what he wanted to do.
But sometimes Maria Duran cries, and feels the tension of waiting another day with no word on her missing son is too great a burden to bear. Then, she puts his fate in the hands of God.
“I try to hope and hope and hope and pray,” she said of her missing son, Army Sgt. Alex Jimenez of Lawrence, who was kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents May 12, 2007, and has not been seen since. “This situation is very difficult. You don’t know when you can stop. You don’t know when. Maybe now, maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe a year. . .”
Jiminez was an infantryman with the 10th Mountain Division when his unit was ambushed last year. Five soldiers were killed in the attack and three were captured: Jimenez, PFC Byron Fouty, and PFC Joseph Anzac. Only Anzac, who was found dead, has been located.
Duran said she received a letter from the Army on April 15 that told her they had not given up the hunt for Jimenez and Fouty.
“They send me a letter to let me know that they continue to search for them. I said, ‘Thank God’ because they don’t forget him or them,” Duran said.
Hundreds of motorcyclists attended a Lawrence honor ride and rally, which was organized by New England Caring for Our Military director Jim Wareing to mark the first anniversary of the soldiers’ disappearance and show their families that the nation is committed to finding them.
“It’s important to show that our community and our nation stands united with the Jimenez and Fouty family to have their sons returned home,” Wareing said. “These families continue to have to endure so much pain every day, not knowing where their sons are or whether they’re still alive.”
Duran last spoke to her son May 4, 2007, while she was vacationing in California. She knows it was not the last time she’ll hear his voice.
“I still hope and pray every day, because nobody can tell me he died. Just disappear,” she said. “They didn’t tell me he died. The best that we can do is pray for him. I hope. I hope he is still alive.”
LAWRENCE, Mass. -- It has been almost one year since Army Sgt. Alex Jimenez, of Lawrence, was ambushed and captured in Iraq.
Families Pray For Loved Ones' Return NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper reported that Jimenez and another member of is company are still missing. Spc. Shaun Gopaul was with Jimenez and Pvt. Byron Fouty when they were ambushed and captured in Iraq."I am here to support the families," he said.Gopaul said he still had hope that his friends would be found alive."I absolutely do. I pray every day. There is no doubt in my mind. I lived it. I was there," he said.The soldiers' families hold on to hope, too."Hardest thing in the world is getting up every morning and praying every morning that today might be the day," said Fouty's father, Nick."How many POW families can you have that can related to each other like that? Because you only have three from the Iraq War and two of them are right there," said Jim Sereigo-Wareing, of New England Caring For Our Military."I know he is alive. It is my boy ... my only child. He is the only one that carries my name for my family," said Jimenez's father, Andy.
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3 days 3 hours 35 min ago
Missing soldiers honored in Lawrence, Mass.
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(Stephen Iandoli, NECN: Lawrence, Mass.) - It's been one year since a Massachusetts soldier went missing along with a comrade in Iraq. On Saturday local dignitaries joined family members in Lawrence to honor their loved ones.
Forever united in their loss, families Alex Jimenez and Byron Fouty remain linked in their hope that their sons who went missing in action in Iraq May 12, 2007 will return home.
The families are also planning to travel to Washington, D.C. For Memorial Day services.
NECN's Stephen Iandoli has more.
Channel 4 WBZ TV Video
http://wbztv.com/video/?id=62238@wbz.dayport.com
Prayers And Hope
Mark one-year anniversary of missing soldier
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 7:10 PM EDT
For Andy Jimenez, May 12 is supposed to be a happy occasion - after all, it is his birthday.
However, on May 12, 2007, that day took on a new meaning of sadness.
Last year, soldiers came to his Massachusetts home and told him that his oldest son, Corona Sergeant Alex Jimenez, had gone missing in Iraq after an insurgent attack killed other members of his unit.
“Today, on my birthday is one year my son is missing,” said Alex’s father, who came down to be with Alex’s mother, Maria del Rosario Duran, and their other two sons, Andy, 20, and Bryant, 16 for the one year anniversary. “It was very hard for me to know on my birthday last year he [went] missing. I think he’s still alive somewhere.”
Jimenez was assigned to the D (Delta) Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division based out of Fort Drum, NY, and four of his fellow soldiers died that day during the attack.
Jimenez, along with Private First Class Byron Fouty, 19, of Michigan went missing that day, and they have been listed as missing in action or captured ever since.
Nearly 50 family members and friends crowded inside Duran’s Corona living room on Monday night, May 12 to hold a prayer vigil and celebrate mass - something the family has been doing faithfully for the past year.
“It shows that I’m not alone,” Duran said. “Everyone here was praying for Alex.”
After the mass, while family and friends enjoyed food and drinks downstairs sharing stories of Jimenez, Duran spoke in her upstairs kitchen - the same place that one year ago soldiers delivered the painful news about her son.
“They told me there was an explosion, and Alex was missing,” Duran recalled
During the past year, Duran has prayed the rosary everyday with her sisters and other family members and friends hoping to hear good news about her son. Military officials have continued to search for Jimenez and Fouty, and, in October of 2007, they found Jimenez’s gun seven miles from where the attack took place.
Although there have been few official updates since then, Duran said she received a letter in April saying that the military is continuing to look for her son - and she still believes he is alive.
“I want to tell them not to stop [looking],” Duran said recently. “I’m very worried about my son, and I want him to come home.”
Meanwhile, City Councilmember Hiram Monserrate, who came to Duran’s home the night she heard the news about her son, has been bolstering Duran’s emotional resolve during the past year.
Monserrate is currently working to have a street renamed after Jimenez as well as Specialist Jonathan Rivadeneira, a Jackson Heights Specialist who died in Baghdad in September of 2007. Rivadeneira’s mother, Martha Clark, also attended the mass and has become good friends with Duran during the last few months.
“They are very tragic circumstances, but I think the very least the city can do is honor these fallen heroes in a small way that we can ensure that there is a little piece of their hometown that will always remember them,” Monserrate said.
Two days earlier, Duran, Alex’s brothers and other family members traveled to Massachusetts to participate in a day of prayer and hope with members of the Fouty family.
During the Massachusetts ceremony, U.S. Senator John Kerry addressed the two families and a military flyover took place.
In addition, Jim Wareing, Founder of the New England Caring for our Military (NECFOM), who organized the festivities, arranged for Alex’s best friend and roommate from his unit, Shawn Gopaul, to come down from Fort Drum and join the family for the weekend.
Duran said that while these events and ceremonies are very emotional, being together with family and friends helps her continue.
“I’m never going to lose my faith,” she said.
Ursula Gonzales contributed reporting for this article.
A year after disappearance, community remembers Alex Jimenez
11 May 2008-Eagle Tribune
By Yadira Betances
Staff writer
Tue, May 13 2008
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LAWRENCE — Thousands of people turned out to honor the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of local soldier Sgt. Alex Jimenez yesterday, as well as his fellow soldier Byron Fouty of Michigan and others missing in action.
"Seeing so many people here makes my faith and hope grow," Andy Jimenez, Alex's father said. "Knowing you have the support of others reminds you that you're not alone."
Jimenez and Fouty, members of the 10th Mountain's 2nd Brigade, have been missing since May 12, 2007, when their unit was ambushed in a predawn raid south of Baghdad.
"It's been so long since it happened, you get back to your normal life, but being here, it all hits you again at once," said Joshua Studinarz, 21, who was trained by Jimenez.
Alex's mother, Maria Duran, Byron's father, Mick Fouty, and his former stepfather, Gordy Dibler, all attended the services. The day featured a flyover by three Black Hawk helicopters, a POW motorcycle run from Methuen to Salisbury Beach Reservation by members of Rolling Thunder, and political speakers including Congresswoman Niki Tsongas and Sen. John Kerry.
Sergeants Chris Kunert and Joshua Parrish drove from Fort Drum, N.Y., along with Specialists Mike Smith, 22, Joshua Studinarz, 21, Robert Pool, 20, and Sean Gopaul. The servicemen were in charge of the color guard throughout the day.
The day concluded with a service at St. Mary of the Assumption Church, where a video of Jimenez and Fouty was shown.
Many at the crowd cried as photographs of the soldiers celebrating birthdays and Christmas flashed on the screen.
"Seeing the photos is like going back to his childhood," Jimenez' mother said. "What hurts the most is not knowing where he is and hoping that he will come home soon."
Also at yesterday's service at St. Mary were Sgt. Mike Lang of Weymouth, who was deployed to Iraq in August 2006 with Jimenez and Fouty; Steve and Judy Zabierek of Chelmsford, whose son Andrew, was killed in Iraq in 2004; and Dana Bean of Pembroke, whose son, Matthew, died while searching for Jimenez and Fouty.
"I'm here to honor my brothers because that's what they are," Lang said. "It's an Army thing. We never leave a soldier behind, and they are never forgotten. I think it's absolutely amazing the care people have shown, even those who don't support the war but those who are in it, and that's what's important."
As parents of a fallen soldier, the Zabiereks wanted to offer their support, just as Andy Jimenez and Jim Wareing — the founder of New England Caring For Our Military — have supported them by attending fundraising events for a scholarship they established in their son's name.
"It's been so horrible for us. We can't imagine what they are going through," Judy said.
"I'm proud of everything my son did and the sacrifice he made for these guys," Bean said. "It's still heartbreaking, but because of our Christian faith we know he's in heaven and we'll get to see him again."
Earlier, Bean's brother Doug of Peabody attended the bike run with his son, Austin, 6. He said it was hard because he misses his nephew, but he wants to support the Jimenez and Fouty families.
Others who don't know the families reached out, too.
"I've never known a POW, and when I found out about him, it hit home," said Jody Freitas, 35, of Lawrence. "He is from Massachusetts and from Lawrence. If you don't support your own, who will?"
"Alex is a true Lawrencian, and you have to support them," said Lynn Bernard of Lawrence, who attended with daughter, Emma, 13. "Sometimes a hand around the shoulder is all they need to know we care."
Jack and Kim Calligandes of Derry, N.H., prayed all the way from Methuen to Salisbury on the bike run.
"We prayed for strength for the family and that they can find peace and closure one way or another," Kim Calligandes said.
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