Pamyati Marine Lance Cpl. Mourad Ragimov

[Xavier]

Marine Lance Corporal Mourad Ragimov pogib 26 yanvarya 2005 goda, kogda vertolyot, v kotorom on nahodilsya, upal vblizi Ar Rutbah, Iraq. On byl rodom iz Azerbaydzhana. Emu bylo 20 let.



Statya

On Christmas Eve, Lance Cpl. Mourad Ragimov called his mother in Carmel Valley with a secret he felt he could finally tell her.

The 20-year-old machine gunner wasn't in Hawaii and hadn't been for weeks. Instead, he'd been fighting in Fallujah, Iraq, with the rest of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines.

"He said, 'Mom, I can tell you the truth now because the worst part is past. There will be no more danger,' " Dinara Ragimov recalled yesterday while scanning photos of Mourad from the time he was a baby to just before he left for Iraq.

A flickering candle in the living room lit a picture of Mourad in his dress blues.

Early Wednesday, Ragimov, 26 of his comrades from Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe, a Navy medic from Pearl Harbor and three crew members from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station died in a helicopter crash near the city of Rutbah.

Their deaths, and those of four Marines ambushed in Anbar province, made for the single deadliest day for U.S. forces in Iraq since the war started in 2003.



Lance Cpl. Mourad Ragimov

Ragimov is the only San Diegan believed to have been killed in the crash. The Miramar-based Marines were: Capt. Paul C. Alaniz, 32, of Corpus Christi, Texas; Capt. Lyle L. Gordon, 30, of Midlothian, Texas; and Staff Sgt. Dexter S. Kimble, 30, of Houston.

Even now, Dinara Ragimov, a screenwriter, and Rufat Ragimov, a former architect, aren't sure what led their son to join the Marines.

Both are anti-war and tried to change his mind.

In fact, the family had fled Soviet-controlled Azerbaijan in 1989 because, as Dinara explained, they needed to escape a civil war.

She and Rufat believed no more in the current Iraq war than the one in their old country.

But Mourad, as always, would blaze his own path.

His mother illustrated Mourad's single-mindedness with a story.

At 15, he created Web sites and worked odd jobs to buy a car for $500. "He was so proud of that car because he bought it with his own money," Dinara said. "He would never ask us for anything. He wouldn't even let me buy leather shoes for him. That was just the way he was.

"He came to me one day and said, 'Mom, none of the girls from Torrey Pines High School will sit in my car because it's not so nice. But I don't care.' "

Mourad quit high school at 16 and took classes at a nearby college. In his neighborhood, he was known as the computer fix-it guy and was in great demand.

At 16½, Mourad told his parents he wanted to move on with his life and join the Marines. His mother and father eventually gave in, figuring they had no real choice.

"When we asked him why, he used to say: 'While you are sipping your coffee and enjoying your life, someone needs to be protecting this country,' " Rufat said. "And I would say, 'Who is going to attack?' And he would say, 'You never know.' "

Mourad graduated with honors at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego and then attended the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton.

Last fall, he received orders to deploy to Iraq. He asked his father not to tell Dinara. Rufat didn't want to keep a secret from his wife, but he agreed not to tell.

By October, Mourad and his unit were overseas.

Rufat talked to Mourad a few times during November's heavy fighting in Fallujah. His son said little about the combat.

The Christmas Eve disclosure led to more calls home from Mourad.

Just 36 hours before being notified of Mourad's death, the Ragimovs were planning his return. There would be a homecoming party in February, of course, and then a huge party for his 21st birthday April 2.

On Monday, Mourad called twice. In one conversation, he told his mother that he planned to buy his sister, Shayla, 15, a car with his combat pay. He was serious and would not take "no" for an answer.

He also reassured his mother he was OK.

"He said, 'Mom, it's absolutely safe. We're coming home,'" Dinara said.

But his father sensed something troubling in his son's tone.

"Adrenalin rushed in his voice before. He was confident," Rufat said. "But this last operation to help with the elections, I didn't hear that confidence. His voice was kind of sad."

Dinara has another last memory.

"I was always amazed at his natural knowledge from his heart and from his spirit. He was a philosopher by nature," she said. "Sometimes I could not argue with him because he was so wise. He would understand ideas that I had to get from books. He was so unique."

Rufat can only imagine the life his son could have had.

"The saddest thing was that he had so many goals, so many things he wanted to achieve. To raise a family. He was full of good will," he said. "I talked to him about serving in Iraq and he said, 'I chose this for my destiny.' "


Svetlaya Tebe pamyat, Mourad!
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Roditeli Mourada sozdali website www.ragimov.org

[Caramel]

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