Picking up where a hero left off

Lolita Harper

Roger Mendez will take a lot to Florida with him in the fall.

He will take a wonderful education from Newport Harbor High School

and the distinction of being the first in his family to attend

college. He will also take with him the legacy of fallen U.S. Marine

Cpl. Jose Garibay.

Roger, 17, is the grateful recipient of the Honorary Jose Angel

Garibay Scholarship fund, awarded by the Orange County Hispanic

Educational Endowment Fund and will receive $1,000 toward his university studies. The Newport Harbor High senior said it is an

honor he will not take lightly.

“Wow, I don’t know how to explain it,” Roger said. “It means a lot

because he is a hero and did the same thing I want to do.”

Garibay joined the Marines when he was 18, just after he graduated

from Newport Harbor High, and was based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He and

six others from his base were killed March 23 near Nasiriyah, Iraq,

after encountering an ambush by enemy troops, officials reported.

Garibay was the first of two Orange County casualties reported in the

war.

Roger, a Costa Mesa resident, also plans to enlist in the Marines

and serve his country, he said. He wants to fight for the freedom

that makes it the greatest nation in the world. He wants to protect

the liberties that allowed him to pursue a better life than his

parents. He wants to protect other countries from evil and tyrannical

leaders, he said.

In the fall, Roger will attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical

University in Daytona Beach, Fla., where he will study engineering

and physics.

Why? Simple, he said.

“It interests me a lot,” Roger said. “It is the study of what we

do everyday. Why is it that we are able to stand and walk? If we sit

in a chair, what keeps it from collapsing underneath us? What makes a

plane fly?”

While Roger is busy exploring the phenomena of everyday life, his

siblings have a role model, his father said. Roger has shown his

siblings that education is the key and that success is not

improbable. Although Rogelio Mendez came from a country where he was

not empowered by education, his children will not suffer the same

fate, he said.

“What can I say? I am so very proud,” Rogelio Mendez said in

Spanish. “I give thanks to God first. Without him, we are nothing.”

Rogelio Mendez said he always tried to instill the importance of

faith and service in his children. Roger has always been a boy who

likes to help others and demonstrates the power the Lord has in one’s

life, Roger said.

“Ever since he was little,” the father said.

In addition to his rigorous advanced placement studies, Roger is

also very active at his church, La Puerta Abierta -- “the open door”

in English. He is the musical leader for the youth worship team and

the former director of the choir.

“I like to mess around with my guitar,” he said.

The rest of his free time is spent doing things any other teenager

would do, including going to the movies and “kicking back.”

The Jose Angel Garibay Memorial Scholarship Fund was established

through the Orange County Hispanic Educational Endowment Fund at the

request of the Garibay family. During the memorial service for

Garibay, his uncle and family spokesman said if one positive thing

could come of his nephew’s death, it would be to help educate others.

Roger is just the first, endowment officials said. With the help

of others in the community, they hope to grow the scholarship fund

into a supportive tool for many college freshmen to come.

Perhaps another Mendez will be a recipient. His younger brothers,

12 and 5, could earn it in a few years with hard work and diligence.

“Many other people have recognized Roger’s strength,” Rogelio

Mendez said in Spanish. “I have two younger boys and I hope they

follow his example. I pray that many others turn out like my son.

With the grace of God, they can.”

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and

covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or

by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.