Michael A. Estrella

Friday, June 16 2006 @ 10:01 PM EDT

www.pe.com -- A Hemet High School graduate who fulfilled his longtime dream of becoming a Marine has been killed in Iraq, his family said Thursday as the American military death toll for the Iraqi War reached 2,500.

Michael Estrella, 20, is the second Hemet High alumnus to be killed in the conflict since January 2004. News of Estrella's death spread Thursday at his alma mater as nearly 480 seniors and their families gathered for graduation ceremonies at the Ramona Bowl.

The flag on the Hemet campus was lowered to half-staff earlier in the day for Estrella, the 46th solider from Inland Southern California to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since the war began in March 2003.

His death comes after that of 22-year-old U.S. Army specialist Jason Chappell, a former Hemet High academic decathlon team member killed in Iraq in January 2004. The 2000 Hemet High graduate enlisted the year after graduation.

"It's terrible for the family, for the community, for schools, for the country," Hemet school board member Gisela Gosch said of Estrella's death. "Across the country, so many are giving their lives for our freedom. This just brings it home what these kids are doing for us."

Francisco Estrella holds the uniform of his brother Cpl. Michael Estrella. Their mother, Maria, left, and sister Jessica sit nearby

Estrella's grieving family and friends gathered at their west Hemet home to comfort one another and to remember the young man who loved the military and went to serve in Iraq barely three months ago. His great-grandfather, Victor Gonzalez Sr., had served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and Estrella dreamed of a military career.

His mother, Maria, remembered repeatedly asking her son to reconsider. But the 2003 Hemet High graduate told his mother that it was his duty to serve and he was willing to lay down his life, if need be.

"He said he needed to be with his brothers, which is how he described his fellow Marines," said Maria Estrella, who occasionally wiped away tears. "He said, 'Mom, if it happens, it happens. It's God's will.' "

Maria Estrella said she believes her son had a premonition of his fate. He recently had his car shipped to their Hemet home from the military installation at Kaneone Bay, Hawaii, where he had been based.

"He was very loving, always smiling. He always said he'll be there for me," said Maria Estrella, who described how her son, the eldest of six, would look after his siblings while she and her husband, Francisco, were at work.

She said she last spoke to her son Sunday, when he called to ask about his great-grandfather, who has not been feeling well.

A corporal, Michael had been working hard and told his mother that he hoped to be promoted to sergeant.

Marine officers showed up at the family's door Wednesday afternoon to inform his parents that their son had been killed in combat in Iraq. Maria Estrella said the officers did not provide any further details about the circumstances of her son's death.

"Michael was one of a kind," said his grandfather, Victor Gonzalez Jr. "I'm very proud of him."
'I've Been There'

Estrella's death shook Chappell's mother, Gail Farnsworth.

"It hit me very hard because I understand what the family is going through," said Farnsworth, a Hemet school district employee who heard about the death in a mass e-mail sent to the staff. "As soon as I read that, I broke down. I've been there, and I'm still there."

A newlywed stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, Chappell was among three American soldiers killed when a bomb exploded near their armored vehicle in Khalidiyah, according to Defense Department reports. Six other soldiers and seven Iraqis were injured in the blast.

Farnsworth said she was surprised that a second Hemet High student had been killed in Iraq. She hopes to visit the Estrella family and offer them her support. Her family has lowered the American flag flying in front of their house to half-staff Thursday in Michael Estrella's honor.

Chappell's name is among the 35 inscribed on the Hemet War Memorial, unveiled last Veterans Day at Gibbel Park. The memorial lists Hemet-area soldiers killed in war, beginning with World War I.

Estrella's grandfather recalled how his grandson, a Santa Ana native, loved serving in the Hemet High School ROTC program, where he helped other cadets learn and develop leadership qualities.

Estrella spent two years in the ROTC program and was a flight commander in charge of 30 cadets, said Col. Fred Strain, senior instructor of the program at Hemet High School.

"He excelled in our program, he was dedicated, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do, and that was to join the Marines," Strain said. "I think he was looking forward to the adventure and the discipline and looking forward to how a career in the military could shape him as a man."

Classmates remembered Estrella as well-liked and well-respected.

"He was a pretty cool guy, and he loved what he did," said Allison Minkel, 19, a former Hemet High ROTC cadet now a freshman at Northern Arizona University.

Relatives said Estrella attended boot camp at Camp Pendleton and had seen action last year in Afghanistan.

Defense Department officials could not confirm Estrella's death or whether he was the military's 2,500 death in Iraq.

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