LAWRENCE — The bodies of two U.S. soldiers, including Army Sgt. Alex Jimenez of Lawrence, missing in Iraq since being ambushed more than a year ago, have been recovered.
Military officials told Jimenez family members in Lawrence and New York yesterday evening that their son's remains, along with those of Pvt. Byron Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich., were identified on Wednesday.
"I have lost all hope. Oh my God. I have lost all hope," Ramon "Andy" Jimenez of Lawrence said upon learning his son's fate.
Alex Jimenez, 26, had been missing since May 12, 2007.
Jimenez and Fouty were among three members of the 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division captured by terrorists during an ambush south of Baghdad. Four other soldiers were killed in the attack.
The body of the third captured soldier, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif., was later found in the Euphrates River.
Jimenez's father, a construction worker from Lawrence, was informed of his son's death by three uniformed military officials, including a chaplain, who went to his home.
Andy Jimenez was sitting on a couch in the living room of his basement apartment in North Lawrence as one of the officers, Danny Santiago, also of Lawrence, translated a letter into Spanish. It said that a medical examiner in Iraq positively identified the remains and that searchers also found personal items belonging to his son.
"It's hard when you lose someone, but I'm proud of Alex because he died doing something he loved," he said.
Army Chaplain Larry Bazer asked family members and friends gathered in the basement to hold hands as he offered a prayer.
Before the soldiers left, the grieving father told them, "I'm thankful and proud that Alex was one of you," he said in Spanish. "The support you've given me have made me feel I have never been alone."
"It's amazing how one life can affect the whole world," said family friend Mary McAlary of Andover. "He's an angel of peace and this has to stop."
Andy Jimenez had left his house without his cell phone yesterday and was unaware people were trying to contact him. Before the soldiers arrived at his home, his niece Ana Estrella of Lawrence told him the sad news.
"I felt terrible because who wants to do that, but you have to be strong," said Estrella.
Also providing support was his nephew, Jose Peralta of Lawrence, who found out the news when he got a call from another uncle in Florida.
"I was in shock," said Peralta, who shared an apartment with Alex Jimenez on Water Street before his cousin left for the service. "I always had hope that he would come back alive."
Alex Jimenez's mother, Maria Duran, lives in Queens, N.Y.
She was at work when her sister called and told her three military officials were waiting for her at the house.
"I knew it wasn't anything good," she said.
Once she got home, she sat down with the uniformed officers who gave her the bad news.
"My heart sunk," she said. "The worry of not knowing his whereabouts was bad, but now that we know, the pain of losing my son will never end," said Duran, sobbing.
The soldiers also told Andy Jimenez that his son's body was found along with that of Fouty's.
The soldiers' families, who had become friends over the past year, were notified about the same time and had been in touch.
The Pentagon had made no official announcement. It usually waits 24 hours after families are notified before making any public announcements.
A tearful Mick Fouty, Byron's father, called Andy Jimenez from Michigan last night to offer his condolences as did Fouty's mother, Hilary Meunier of San Marcos, Texas, and Fouty's former stepfather, Gordy Dibler.
"Gordy, my brother, our sons are gone," Jimenez told Dibler.
Jimenez went to Michigan to meet Fouty's family, and Mick Fouty and Dibler visited Lawrence last year. Fouty and Dibler returned this May to remember their sons on the first anniversary of their disappearance with a motorcycle run.
Streams of neighborhood friends and family members went to the Jimenez home to comfort the grieving father.
"I don't think it's real for him yet. It's just so weird," said James Wareing of Methuen.
People gathered in the backyard. They brought dozens of pizzas and large containers of coffee, doughnuts and water.
Someone took down an MIA-POW flag that was hanging on the side of the house, and it was replaced with an Army flag with purple and black ribbons and an American flag.
Jimenez held the rank of Army specialist when he was kidnapped and was promoted to sergeant on Jan. 7.
"It gives me a great sense of pride," Andy Jimenez said at the time of his son's promotion.
Jimenez's death is the second Lawrence casualty from the Iraq war, said Veterans Affairs Director Francisco Urena. Sgt. Pierre Raymond, an Army reservist, died in 2005 of wounds he suffered while serving in Iraq.
"Although you always remain positive, you prepare for the worst," Urena said. "It's unfortunate that we had to endure the worst. It's still a little surreal."
Urena said the family was given no details on the discovery of the bodies or the nature of the soldiers' deaths. He said Jimenez's family expected to receive his body in New York in five days.
Last night, looking through several plastic boxes full of letters, postcards and photographs, Andy Jimenez found a letter that caught his attention.
It was a letter Alex had written about his desire to serve in the U.S. Army.
It read, "Ever since I was born, I've felt an attraction for technology, problem solving, action and adventure," Alex wrote. "I believe that in the US Army I may reach my goals which are being all that I can be...If I ever do get recruited, I promise to fight for the innocent who can't fight for themselves and for the USA."
