Army Sgt. David Jimenez Almazan died for his country. But he didn't become an American citizen until after a roadside bomb took his life in Iraq.
A combat medic, Almazan was killed Aug. 27 when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee in Hit, a small city between Baghdad and the Iraq-Syria border. He had been deployed in Iraq for only three weeks.
His wife, Salina Jimenez, said her 27-year-old husband was proud to serve his country. "He loved his job," she said. "He loved working with people. He loved helping people."
Almazan joined the Army in 2002 because "he wanted to make a difference for himself and for other people," his wife said.
The Van Nuys resident reenlisted last spring for another four years with the goal of becoming a physician's assistant.
When he was sent to Iraq, Almazan, an immigrant born in Guadalajara, was working on his application to become an American citizen. "He is now officially one as of the day of his death," his wife said.
Almazan came to the U.S. with his mother and two sisters when he was 11, joining his father, who was already in this country.
Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, he was known as David Jimenez, reflecting his father's last name. In Mexico, his mother's maiden name, Almazan, was listed last on his birth certificate, a common practice there.
Jose Martinez, a childhood friend, said they would spend their summers together in the Valley. "We made a lot with a little. We had a lot of fun with the little money we had," he said. "He kept me out of a lot of trouble.... He kept me grounded."
Almazan graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1997. He attended Los Angeles Valley College and worked at Costco in Van Nuys.
Martinez said his friend was "taught from a very young age to be responsible for himself. He had to take care of other people. That got embedded in him.... He loved doing it. He was good at it."
When Almazan joined the Army, his dream was to become a firefighter, Martinez said. But the Army did not need firefighters. Instead, Almazan was placed in a medic training program. His supervisors and friends said he performed superbly in that role.
His medical platoon leader in Iraq, 1st Lt. Joshua Zeldin, had the highest praise for Almazan. "He was truly a top-notch soldier and a leader to everyone he was around," Zeldin wrote in an e-mail.
