 NCTimes.com -- CARMEL VALLEY ---- Marine Cpl. Mourad Ragimov was an insightful, independent thinker, a philosopher at heart, and wise beyond his years, his mother said.
 "He was a hero from the moment he was born," Dinara Ragimov said Thursday of her first-born son.
The young man, only 20, told his mom he was in Japan. But on Christmas Day he fessed up and told her what his father and little sister already knew: He was in Iraq. He'd been there since November, and was in Fallujah during the fighting in that city.
A month later, on Wednesday morning, three crisply uniformed men came to Dinara Ragimov's door to tell her that her first born had died in a helicopter crash, the one in Iraq that killed 31 service members this week.
As of late Thursday, the Pentagon had not yet released the names of all of those killed in the crash, including Ragimov's name
Like most of the Marines killed in the crash, Ragimov was a member of a Hawaii-based Marine unit attached to the 1st Marine Division, which is headquartered at Camp Pendleton.
In Carmel Valley, the Marine's family mourned the loss of the handsome boy, the one in so many of the family pictures on display in the home. A candle flickered under his basic training portrait. Beside it sat the young man's cover, the hat from his dress blue uniform.
The family home was full Thursday with family and friends and food and newly bought flowers.
On the wall nearby hung a large portrait of Mourad Ragimov's great-great-grandfather. Dinara Ragimov said he had been a general in the Russian military under the czar, before the Russian Revolution.
The mother shined through her grief as she spoke of her son. She wore one of his jackets, too big for her, even with the sleeves rolled up. On her neck was a pendant he had given her, "Mom" in gold.
Born in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, Mourad Ragimov was the inspiration for his mother's first short stories, which were later published in her native Russian language.
March will mark 16 years since the Ragimov family was granted political asylum and moved to the United States, to San Diego's East County.
"We left (Azerbaijan) so we could save our children, and now he joined the military to save other people's children," Dinara said as she wrapped her arms around to herself to symbolize protection. "It's a weird cycle to me."
Mourad Ragimov was a month shy of 5 years old when he came to the United States. He spoke only Russian, and his mother was four months' pregnant with his sister Shayla, the girl who would become one of his best friends.
Shayla Ragimov smiled as she spoke of her brother, who would burn up hours of calling-card minutes talking to her when he was in Iraq.
In an e-mail from Iraq, Mourad Ragimov described his sister as "my only treasure in the world."
Mourad Ragimov was just 8 when he told his mom he didn't fit in, describing the rest of the world as needles that poked him as he tried to be a part of it.
When he was 12, Dinara gave him a copy of J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye," one of her favorite books. It immediately became one of his favorites, too.
"He couldn't put it down," Dinara recalled. He identified with the main character, the disenchanted Holden Caulfield.
"He is very stubborn, very independent," Dinara said of her son in the present tense, as if he was alive. "He was rebellious and at the same time, he had a sensitive heart."
The comment brought a round of agreement from everyone within earshot.
The Ragimov family moved throughout California a bit before settling in Carmel Valley when Mourad Ragimov was a sophomore. After about a year at Torrey Pines High School, the teen told his parents he wanted to drop out. There was no stopping him. Soon after, he earned his high school equivalency diploma, and began taking classes at Mira Costa College.
Administrators at Torrey Pines High confirmed that Ragimov had attended the school in his sophomore year. And officials at North Coast Alternative High, an independent-study school in which student's work at their own pace and check in with instructors about once a week, said Ragimov was enrolled at the Encinitas campus for about a month during the fall of 2000, before leaving to take his high school proficiency exam.
Marie Grey, who was the principal at Torrey Pines when Ragimov was a student there, said that while the Marine's name didn't ring a bell, it was upsetting to hear that one of her former students had been killed.
"It saddens me deeply," Grey said.
John Dale, a former classmate of Ragimov's, said that while he didn't remember Ragimov, hearing about the young man's death made the war in Iraq seem more real.
"This person ... who went to fight for you, instead of you, is now passed away," Dale said. "It definitely hits home a lot more."
Dale said it was difficult and disheartening to hear that his former classmate's life was cut short, adding that he regretted that he would never have a chance to get to know Ragimov.
Ragimov was 18 when he decided to join the Marines. Again, despite his mother's initial objections, there was no stopping him.
He went to boot camp in San Diego in August 2002. Upon graduation, he was sent to Camp Pendleton for more training, his father Rufat Ragimov said. He was stationed in Hawaii a few months before heading to Iraq.
Shortly before heading to Iraq, he penned a poem that he asked his mom to save for him to read upon his return. On Thursday, his sister read the poem.
"I find myself in what seems to be a never-ending search for self-identity," reads the first line. "Who am I?"
Clutching a tissue, his mother said her son had last called Monday night to tell his family he had one final mission to go on. He was to leave Iraq in the next few days.
"In my ears are his last words to me: 'I love you, Dad,' " the father said. "I hear it all the time now." |
I would like to say thank you to you and the other men who were on that '53 with you for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
Semper Fi Devil Dog!