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May 17, 2007

Prayers offered for safe return of Lawrence soldier

Jessica Benson and Yadira Betances

LAWRENCE — Alex Jimenez may be in the hands of terrorists, but he is not alone.

That’s the message being sent from the people of Lawrence to the 25-year-old soldier believed kidnapped last weekend by al-Qaida terrorists.

“The city of Lawrence is all behind you, as every other American is,” Mayor Michael Sullivan said in a taped statement addressed to Jimenez. “We are all praying you return to a safe land soon.”

The Army specialist is one of four soldiers missing after an ambush Saturday in Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad, in a region known as the “triangle of death.” Three of the soldiers were believed to have been captured by the Islamic State of Iraq, while a fourth was found dead, badly burned and unrecognizable.

Jimenez’s family was told that the dead soldier is not him, meaning he could still be alive and a captive.

Thousands of U.S. troops were intensifying their search for Jimenez and the two other missing soldiers yesterday, offering rewards of up to $200,000 for information on their whereabouts. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of U.S. troops in the region where Jimenez went missing, told the Associated Press that he was optimistic the soldiers would be found alive.

“We’re leaving no stone unturned,” he said.

Unfortunately, with Jimenez officially listed as “whereabouts unknown,” and his family hunkered down at Fort Drum, N.Y., where they are awaiting word on his fate, there was little anyone in Lawrence could do, said state Rep. William Lantigua, who has been in touch with the family.

“There’s nothing we can do but pray,” he said. “There’s nothing else really we can do.”

But on a positive note, the thoughts and prayers of everyone in Lawrence have brought some comfort to Jimenez’s family, Lantigua said.

“They appreciate it,” he said. “They’re very grateful that the community is behind them.”



A premonition

Jimenez’s father, Ramon, seemed to know something bad was going to happen.

Three days before learning that his son was missing in Iraq, Ramon, known to friends and family as Andy, was seen walking around the house with a picture of his son, in uniform, pressed tightly against his chest, according to his neighbor and close friend, Wendy Luzon.

That day, he also wasn’t his usual self. There was no singing, no playing around, Luzon said.

“It was almost like he had a premonition,” she said.

Early Sunday morning, the bad feeling became real, when soldiers came to his Albion Street house. Neighbors heard Ramon Jimenez’s anguished cries.

“He was crying hysterically,” said Luzon’s husband, Raul Polanco.

Jaime Rivera, another neighbor, also heard him, and described the way he fought to find the right words to say.

“I hope he’ll come back here,” Rivera heard the man cry. “I hope he’ll come back.”

Extended family members were just as devastated.

Jose Peralta, his cousin and roommate, was close to Jimenez, calling and e-mailing him in Iraq every few weeks. Then came word of the disappearance of a relative who was more like a brother than a cousin.

“I couldn’t sleep that night,” Peralta said. “All I did was cry and cry, pray and light candles to Our Lady of Altagracia.”

His eyes red from crying yesterday, Peralta said he gets depressed whenever he thinks about his cousin’s predicament.

“There’s not a moment when I don’t think of him,” he said.



Reaching out

Ramon Jimenez left the city for New York, where Jimenez’s mother lives, before word had spread about the soldier’s disappearance.

Ever since, people in Lawrence have been trying to find a way to reach out and offer the family comfort and support. It hasn’t been easy.

“It makes it a little bit difficult because the whole family went to New York,” Lantigua said. “It’s a little frustrating for people.”

City officials also have had a hard time offering services to the family, since they are so far away from Lawrence.

“There’s not a lot to do besides follow the news,” said Sullivan.

But people still want to help. Throughout the day yesterday, Veterans Services Director Francisco Urena said he received about two dozen phone calls from community members concerned about Jimenez and his family. He has offered the city’s help to the family.

“If there’s anything we can do,” he said, “please, we are here to support you.”



Keeping the faith

Though family and friends originally planned to hold a public candlelight vigil for Jimenez last night, they decided instead to keep things more low profile, and canceled the event.

According to Lantigua, the family was advised to keep Jimenez out of the spotlight as much as possible, to avoid drawing his captors’ attention to him. Lantigua would not say who gave the family that advice.

Though they are asking for people to refrain from bringing unwanted attention to Jimenez, they are welcoming people’s prayers.

“I want you to continue to pray for Alex and for the other soldiers,” Alex’s father told Luzon in a phone call last night.

And prayers were one thing which were found in abundance in Lawrence this week, starting on Sunday, when members of the Latinos Unidos softball league, which Luzon’s husband belongs to, had a moment of silence for Jimenez.

His cousin, Peralta, hopes all the prayers will help. He described Jimenez as a very religious man.

On the door of their shared Water Street apartment hangs a poster with a cascade of water falling from lush green mountains onto a river. The poster showcases quotes from Psalms 1, and 2 Thessalonians 3:1.

“We have to remain positive and with our faith in God, hope for his return,” Peralta said. “I left him in the hands of God.”

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