Michael A. Estrella, 20

My cousin is a Marine that is currently over seas. He has said many times that this is what they singed up for no one pushed me or forced with a draft order. Many Marines know this from day one so remember nothing to fear Marines. Thank you for your dedication !

There isn't just one good memory i [his cousin] have of Michael... I have several. One that I'll never forget is the last time we spent Memorial weekend with him on our family trip to San Felipe, Baja Cali... One of his favorite places to visit & ride ATV's. He always seemed so relaxed and happy there... we all did! San Felipe was one of our many family trips where we would all get together and enjoy each other's company to chill and have fun camping along the beach.

Michael was such a great person, very humble and loving. Ever since he was deployed to Afghanistan he would keep in touch with me, his cousin. I always feared and wondered what kind of danger he would be in over there. The times we would talk/chat he always seemed certain and confident that nothing would ever happen to him... he knew we all worried for him.

May you rest in peace, Mikey... You are truly missed but will never be forgotten.

We love you,

Karina, Julian, Josiah, & JC Gonzalez

<33

i miss you so much micheal i wish you cud still be here to make fun of me lol and me making fun of you for having glasses and calling you a four eyed geek i miss you so much and im ALWAYS thinking about you...we all are.

R.I.P mikey i love you so much....

HES OUR FAMILY HERO THAT WILL TRULY BE MISSED BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN..

Mike my brother was the best brothers i ever had, i have so many good Memory's from when we were just kids to teenagers. I dred everyday with missing him, and will never forget the day i found out my brother a Marine who was wise,strong ,loving and caring had passed away. I was in my house and heard the door bell ring and answerd the door not knowing who it was and there stood 2 marines and 1 navy soldier and didnt think of it untill i saw the red 4 to 5 inch folder in the hands of one marine, and right there and then i knew right away that something bad had happend to my brother. One of the marines asked me to call my mom and i really didnt want to call her and make her day a living hell but i had no choice but to call her with bad news. A marine dreding to tell my parents the bad news took me to pick up my 3 other siblings from school i didnt know what to expect when they onced steped into the car, my brothers and sister kept asking me what was going on,i sat in the car and said "nothing" i sat there in silence and cryed and cryed trying not to show my brothers and sister i was crying. Once we got home i walked into the house and saw my mom and dad sitting down together and i saw my mom bawling out tears and looking at us and i just looked at my mom and cryed even more knowing my brother wasnt with us anymore, we all sat in the living room as a family, i saw and heard the marine say "im sorry for your loss" the marine was trying not to cry. I felt like there was going to be no tomorow after he said that. My brother who one was 6 didnt understand what was going on until my mom told him. I remeber him saying "why is Michael dead?" i cryed and cryed knowing that he will be asking for a long time until he understood that his older brother got killed in iraq. Until this day i remeber every second of it and will NEVER forget that day on June 14th 2006 when we all as a family found out the bad news. I will always miss Michael, my brother who was always there for me and told me to stay in school and that he wanted to see me graduate one day but that day never came for him to see me so i took a pin with a picture of him and pinned it on my shaw and that same day of my graduation he got to walk with me and i knew he was there. But there are so many memorys in my heart of years and years we had together as kids and as siblings.

Mike i love you and will never forget you, you will always be in my heart and i will never forget that day u asked me for Kool-aid and Menudo in one of my dreams. I love you and i hope to see you soon.

-Jessica