Marine Cpl. Rudy Salas, 20, Baldwin Park; Dies in Vehicle Accident

While visiting his Baldwin Park home after Marine basic training two years ago, Cpl. Rudy Salas didn’t realize how cruel his matter-of-fact comment sounded to his mother.

“If the Marines come and they have a tag with my name on it inside a little box,” the young man told her, “that means I died.”

Elida Salas recalled that conversation last week after she answered the phone at the Fontana gas station where she works as a cashier. Another son, Sammy, was calling to ask her to come home. “Mommy, the Marines are here,” he said.

“I went crazy,” said the 38-year-old single mother of five. “I came crying on the road. I got here and saw them. I did not wait for a word because I knew what had happened.”

The waiting military officials told her that Rudy, 20, was killed May 20 in a noncombat-related vehicle accident in Iraq’s Al Anbar province. He was assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.

As of Friday, at least 800 American servicemen and women had died in Iraq. Of those, 101 had ties to California.

Salas’ mother came to Baldwin Park from Mexico when she was 14. She met her husband, Rodolfo Salas -- from whom she is now divorced -- and they had five children: Rudy; Sammy, 19; Tanya, 15; Andy, 8; and Leslie, 7.

Rudy Salas graduated in 2001 from Baldwin Park High School, where he played on the varsity football team in his senior year.

“Everyone I talk to, they always remember him being quiet, but when he started to talk, he made them laugh,” said Veronica Portillo, 20, who became engaged to Salas two years ago. “As a boyfriend, he was very loving.”

After graduation, Salas’ mother put down a $100 deposit at a San Gabriel Valley technical school so he could learn computer skills. But, to her dismay, computers did not appeal to Salas, who decided to join the Marine Corps instead.

“If I had been rich, I would have told him, ‘Choose whatever career you want, the cost doesn’t matter,’ ” she said. “He would not have had to go over there.”

Salas was first deployed to Iraq in February 2003 and returned to Camp Pendleton three months later. He was redeployed again this February.

During his deployments, he talked to Portillo about their pending marriage and having children. To support his future family, he was considering becoming a police officer and then a SWAT team member. Most recently, though, he talked about going to college and studying psychology.

His mother said the pain of her son’s death has led her to disagree with the war.

“If I could,” she said, “I would tell the president that I would give him my life, even though my son is gone, so they bring the other boys home so another mother doesn’t have to go through this.”

Funeral arrangements had not been finalized, but Salas’ family said he would be buried at Riverside National Cemetery.