Adopted and raised by his biological uncle, Alex spent his growing up years in a combined family, the only boy in a house of girls. "He was full of life and joy" said his sister. Since childhood, he dreamed of being a soldier, his dad was once an Army Paratrooper. Alex graduated from Mission Texas High School in 2005 where he was a football and baseball player and then joined the Army. Currently on his first tour of duty in Iraq, assigned to the 43rd Combat Engineer Company, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based at Fort Hood, Texas. In April he was injured in Iraq and spent two weeks in the hospital with a hairline fracture on one of his ribs and an injury to a leg and was awarded the Purple Heart after that. Alex was a prankster, a jokester, goofy, a wonderful storyteller and garrulous. A man with much compassion, he always cared about everybody else, never wanting to offend anybody. He was very proud to be serving and protecting his country. He frequently volunteered for dangerous missions, saying that if he did this, one of his fellow soldiers would not have to. Communicating with his family back home with frequent emails, they were filled with his dreams and stories, his future plans included becoming a police officer for the city of Mission. Alex was killed in Mosul, Iraq, when insurgents fired upon his patrol vehicle. He is survived by his parents, Alfredo and Idalia Gonzalez; his biological parents, Brenda Ojeda and Urbano Gonzalez Jr.; five sisters, Casey Mejia, Emily Gonzalez, Audrey Gonzalez, Arleen Gonzalez, and April Gonzalez; paternal grandparents, Urbano Gonzalez Sr. and Emma Maria Santana; maternal grandparents, Antonio and Ramona Rodriguez; and his beloved dog, Lucky. Alex is also survived by numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.