He spent about a year in Iraq and another six months in Afghanistan as a mechanic for the 101st Airborne Division, until he tore his ACL in his knee and was brought back to the U.S. for surgery. Bagorio, 25, saw very little combat and none of his friends were killed, but he doesn't want to go back to Iraq.
Bagorio says it only took him about nine months to complete the application process and become a citizen. He was sworn in at the Masonic Center in January, and is now working to sponsor his new bride, Cherrie, a childhood sweetheart from the Philippines, so that she can move to the U.S. and join him in August. "Finally, now I can say I'm a Filipino-American," he says.
Jen Siska
Pablo Paredes wants immigrant students to know about alternatives to military service.
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Angel has progressed more than anyone expected, but he still struggles — and perhaps always will.
During a recent session with a speech pathologist, he worked on crosswords and problem-solving puzzles. There he sat reading off the clues, like "to narrate a story." She tells him it's a four-letter word, and that a narrator is the person who's talking. He sits, stroking his chin with his left hand, a pencil resting between his fingers. Then he leans in, staring at the paper.
He got another word, showing that the first letter of his mystery word was a "T."
"So, now you have one more piece of information for this one," she tells him.
"Oh, man," he says, clasping his right hand in his left. "I get really ... "
"Don't get too frustrated with it," she tells him, as they agree he can do it as homework.
A few days later, he's still annoyed he couldn't figure out the word: tell.
On a recent trip to the mall, he had trouble recalling his shoe size. But he's still set on moving forward. "For me, I need to get more better," he says. "I want to be almost the same. I'm not going to be the same ... I just want to get better."
In many ways, he is better already: He can move again, and doesn't have a tracheostomy tube anymore. His speech has improved. He's graduated from wheelchair to walking with a cane, which he relies on less and less. Still, the right side of his body remains weak. Angel is learning to write with his left hand, and often tucks his right into the pocket of his jeans or lays it across his lap when he's sitting. He no longer needs the helmet, which he wore for a year and a half and, thanks to a prosthetic piece of skull.
It's hard to predict how much Angel's brain will be able to heal. While it's estimated that about 20 percent of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered some form of Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, his injury was especially severe. And he was hit on the left side, meaning his language and speech have been especially affected — not to mention his math and logic skills. But he refuses to rule out the possibility that he may make it to college — which was the reason he joined the military in the first place.
It could have been worse. According to the Department of Defense, more than 126 green card service members have been killed while stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan; 93 of them got citizenship only after they died. (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has made it easier for families to apply for posthumous citizenship.)
Angel may get frustrated with himself, but he says he's not angry at the Marine Corps because of what happened to him. He still hangs a bright red, yellow, and blue Marine Corps blanket and a flag from the wall of his new apartment. Still, if another young Mexican immigrant asked him about enlisting in the military, either to get money for school or citizenship, he says he'd simply tell them that "it's not for everyone."
