Francisco Garcia wasn’t an Afghanistan vet
Over the weekend, Francisco Garcia was killed in Los Angeles. The LAPD announced that he had just returned from Afghanistan, they say that information came from his family. Well, now we read that he had never been deployed from CBS;
Ft. Drum officials in New York confirmed Garcia enlisted in June 2012 and was discharged from the Army in July of this year.
During his enlistment, Garcia, who held the title of PV1, went through six months of basic training before being stationed Ft. Drum, according to Ft. Drum spokesperson Julie Halpin.
It was also later determined Garcia was not celebrating his homecoming as originally reported by the LAPD.
Of course, that doesn’t make it any less tragic that a 22-year-old died needlessly in the streets of his hometown, it may have been a story that he told his family, or it could have been a story that his family told for more sympathy, or it could have been that the police misunderstood.
Police suspect the 21-year-old was caught in a feud between two rival tagging groups and may have been involved.
Vincent Estrada, 18, was arrested Tuesday in Garcia’s murder.
For the record, I tried to verify his service in the first few hours after it happened, but there are 32 Francisco Garcias in the Army, so it was a little difficult to whittle down the field.
Category: Army News
And of course, the national media will jump all over this to correct their earlier error. And when they do, they will highlight the fact that the guy got tossed out of the Army early as an E1 – almost certainly for cause.
Anyone who actually believes the above, please contact me. I have a great deal for you on a bridge. (smile)
Hondo…If Obama had…another son…
I am sad he’s dead. That’s not good news. That said, if he was involved in the “modern art form” of tagging (it used to be called vandalism), though I hope it’s not true, then he was with the wrong and bad crowd to begin with.
Uhhhhh, “six months of basic training”. Damn, wonder how many times he was recycled.
OIF ’06-’07-’08…There’s a lot to absorb in boot camp. Just takes some folks longer than others to catch it all. 😀
Yeah, well, his body wasn’t cold when his family established a GoFundMe page. It’s still up and they’ve collected $7000 thus far.
Maybe they’re planning to donate it to a veteran’s organization for real Afghanistan vets.
I forgot to add //sarc//
2/17 Air Cav…YGBFSM!!! But obviously you aren’t.
No, Sparks, I’m not. I’d put the link here but I don’t want to sicken everyone. The sum I cited is on the site, along with their stated goal of $10,000.
2/17 Air Cav…What bothers me I guess is nowadays no matter how a person is killed, the family puts up these “pay me” sites. If he was part of the “tagging” gang activity, then neither he nor they deserve it. If he was an innocent victim of a crime, in our state I don’t know about CA, there is a “Victim’s Crime Fund” supported by taxes and donations to help those families pay expenses and for restitution in those cases.
Ah, Sparks…shame became obsolete just about the same time the typewriter did. Haven’t seen it since.
“…two rival tagging groups…”
What the hell is this?
that’s how you newspeak “gangs” when you don’t want to say gangs.
Or, they’re described as “groups of youths with a common purpose”. That’s how my chief denied the existence of gangs for the first 5 or 6 years of his tenure.
The media outlets are edging closer to the truth. The shooting is now being described as a “tagging crew turf dispute”.
I think it’s just like the game we all played as a kid, except they use spray paint and bullets.
2/17 Air Cav…LMAO! Thank bro!
By the way in other similar news. Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead! Also.
Family member shows up to give us grief over disparaging his service in 3,2,1…
go to his “gofundme” page and it says right on it that the family was not responsible for putting out the combat vet meme and disavows it.
Looks like they tried to step up to the plate right off and correct it.
I’m wondering, though. How was he discharged as a PVT1?
“Looks like they tried to step up to the plate right off and correct it.”
I’m not there, not based upon the police sources for the bullshit and the quickness with which the pay ’em site was set up. Maybe it’s a subculture thing that I don’t understand, that within hours of being killed, family set up a donation site. It’s an alien concept to me. If tragedy strikes a needy family, my experience is that a business in the community coordinates donations and ensures that the money collected is spent as it was intended.
While you’re trying to gain an understanding of that, include the personalized T-shirts worn at gang member funerals. Interesting, to say the least. Thought they were an urban legend, but got to see a set as a group of gangbangers wearing them followed the family in for a funeral. Evidently those custom T-shirts are current funereal attire. Pall bearers, maybe, and the number depends upon how many are not in custody?
I know what you mean. I do funeral escorts in the L.A. area, and the personalized T-shirts are almost a requirement. I once did an escort for a funeral that had been delayed for two weeks because the T-shirts weren’t ready.
I don’t know and if I’m wrong I’ll admit and apologize. However the family posted on their GoFundMe site, “Our Frankie had just been accepted to the California Highway Patrol academy where he sought to work extensively to provide for our family.” Now that implies to me he was accepted to be trained as a highway patrolman. How do you do 2 years in the Army, 6 months of that in boot camp, come out as a PVT1 and have a service record and discharge sufficient to support being accepted by the CHP? Just doesn’t all seem quite right to me. But hey, I could be wrong. I don’t know the CHP standards and he was accepted great.
The GoFundMe site donations are now up to $7,318.00 and the latest contributor is the local VFW Post in Sylmar,CA.
Wow.
If you were a shitbag in the Army chances are you will be a shitbag out of the Army.
One would assume the VFW would get this.
Maybe not.