Julio Vargas

Julio Vargas and his wife Rosita were looking forward to starting a family.  The two had married in December,  and bought a house near Camp Pendleton, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. Before Vargas deployed to Afghanistan, he had asked his father if he was ready to be a grandfather.

The 23-year-old Marine had been expected home at the end of September but was killed July 20, 2010, by a roadside bomb in Helmand province. He listed Sylmar, Calif., as his hometown.

"He was a good kid," Adalberto Cruz, a longtime family neighbor, told the newspaper. "He was always smiling and you'd never see him mad or anything. He was always real polite, really outgoing."  He graduated from Sylmar High School, and in February 2008, enlisted in the mlitary. He had been a vehicle gunner in Afghanistan.  

"He was a real-life hero, one of our nation's bravest individuals, and his service and sacrifice in the name of freedom will not be forgotten," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

Let us pray to God the Father, Jesus, all of the saints and all of the angels that Julio Vargas is in heaven. Let us pray that he is at peace and is with God. Amen