Lance Cpl. Ramon Mateo of Suffolk, New York surprised everyone with a sudden visit from Iraq early in Sept. First, he went to his mother's workplace, stood silently behind her as her colleagues beamed, and savored the expression on her face when she turned around. Then, in a gleeful succession of lightning-strike visits, he surprised other members of his family. But, after a two-week leave, he was gone, back to Iraq. He had hoped to use his military training to become a diesel mechanic. He wanted to make his family proud, and for his cousins to look up to him. For Corporal Mateo, the Marine Corps was a way to learn more about fixing cars and trucks and earn money so he could go to college. He did not join because of his beliefs about politics or the war on terrorism, but because he wanted to get a business degree and own a mechanic's shop. Mateo was 9 when his mother and father separated, and he quickly became protective of his mother, older sister and younger sister. He would square off against anyone who bullied his family, but he was a pushover around the people he loved. To make him smile, all you had to do was hug him and say his muscles were getting bigger. In high school, Corporal Mateo played football until his grades plunged in his junior year and he had to quit the team. He attended Brentwood High School, although he didn't graduate with his class, but got his diploma after summer school in August 2002. He is the son of Pedro Mateo and Luz Estelle Rivera, and brother of Andrea Mateo, Sonia, Miguel and Angel Rivera. He married his wife Concetta in May 2003. He was 20.

Marines
Headquarters and Service Company
7th Marine Regiment
1st Marine Division
I Marine Expeditionary Force
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center
Twentynine Palms, California