Jesus Alberto Suarez del Solar, 20

Marines, Lance Corporal

Based: Camp Pendleton

1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: March 27, 2003

Baghdad, Iraq

Married, 1 child

Gender: Male

Hometown: Escondido

High School: Valley High (Escondido)

Foreign Country of Birth: Mexico

Suarez was a legal resident but not a U.S. citizen. His family moved from Tijuana so the young man could fulfill a dream of becoming a Marine. His father has become a vocal opponent of the war. "I speak against the system," said Suarez del Solar, 48. "But I support the troops."

Erik Hernandez Silva, 04/03/2003

Joseph Menusa, 03/27/2003

14 memories of Jesus Alberto Suarez del Solar

“

I served with LCpl Suarez in 1st LAR in 2003.

My main memory of him was when we were up in a border observation tower just 300m into Kuwait the day before we pushed into Iraq. He and another LAR scout were up in the tower with me taking turns manning the M82 sniper rifle.

While we were bored and chatting, I mentioned to them how much this deployment would impress girls back in the USA. I remember how Suarez just smiled and said "I have a wife, sir."

I have a pic from that afternoon, and later saw Suarez carried back to our lines for medical treatment just south of the Baghdad-Hillah interchange just south of Sumar. I was on the convoy that rushed to get him far enough behind the frontline to get him on medical helo. I only knew him briefly, but he seemed as good a LCpl as I could hope to meet.

” — Former Lt. B., November 11, 2009 at 3:02 p.m.

“

I was a Marine and in an artillery unit when I met Jesus. We were on the same ship USS Mount Vernon on a deployment right before the war kicked off. I remember always seeing him with a smile on his face, huge stunning smile that always lit up the room. Our howitzers (cannons) were located near the LAR vehicles where we would always run into each other while we did maintenance on our equipment, and we would always stand around telling jokes, clowning around, and talking smack about how bad we Marines had it compared to the spoiled navy, lol, just things Marines typically did and said on any given day. I was shocked and couldn’t believe the news when I heard an LAR Marine he passed from his unit. Jesus was the first one that came to mind and I broke down. Although we were in different units, I truly felt his loss and cried like no other because I knew he had a baby and wife, he had the whole world ahead of him. We never had the chance to hangout when we got back home like we had planned to do :( Rest easy brother. We love you and will always keep you in our hearts. Sgt E. Vargas

” — Edgar V. , May 28, 2018 at 12:01 a.m.

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Jesus Alberto Suarez del Solar, 20

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14 memories of Jesus Alberto Suarez del Solar

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