FEBRUARY 1, 2004
Smoke Signals 3
Tribal Member Sees The War In Iraq From The Front Row
Estrada continued from front page
joined," she said, "but he wasn't
thinking of Iraq."
In Kuwait, Erik and fellow-soldiers
lived in tents with outside tem
peratures as hot as 130 degrees,
said Debbie, and in June, 2003, the
group entered Iraq, where the sum
mer temperatures also soared well
above 100.
Today, he is refurbishing hospi
tals and other buildings in
Baghdad. He and his compatriots
live in apartments they have had
a hand in repairing. The accom
modations are a big improvement,
and the winter time temperature
for them is now a comfortable 65
degrees.
As a Nuclear, Biological, Chemi
cal Specialist with the 30lh Medical
unit in Baghdad, Estrada also has
distributed uniforms that help de
fend soldiers against weapons of
mass destruction.
of his earliest days, "He was just a
really cute little kid."
Nicole, who works for a mortgage
company in Northridge and goes to
school at California State Univer
sityNorthridge (with a minor in
Native American studies), tells
other stories.
"At a wedding one time (when he
was really young), people were pay
ing him to dance. Break dance. He
was so cute and people just loved
him in his little outfit."
He got into a fight once, Nicole
remembered. It was the only one
she remembered him being in
volved with. "He was standing up
for a little kid who was getting
picked on," she said.
"He did a lip sync in high school
to the song, 'YMCA,m said Nicole.
"He jumped off the stage and was
running through the audience and
he had the whole audience laugh-
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Two Of A Kind Tribal Oder Bud Leno, 82. shows grandson Erik Estrada the
uniform he wore while serving in World War II. It didn't take Erik long to try it on
(see below). When Estrada came home from Baghdad for aThanksgrving break,
he tried on the uniform the Air Force gave to his grandfather, Bud Leno, when Leno
was discharged at Fort Lewis in 1 945. It fit Erik "like a glove," said Leno.
He makes sure the soldiers know
how to use this equipment, said his
Grandmother, Bud's wife, Tribal
Elder Maxine Leno.
Being in a medical unit, "he had
to drive the commander (the head
doctor) to see where Saddam's sons
were killed, said Debbie. "He
thought really his commander just
wanted to see them, too.
"He was in one of Saddam's pal
aces and got to see one of Saddam's
bathrooms that was all gold," she
said.
In February, his year in
Baghdad comes to an end and
Estrada will finish out seven
months of his enlistment in Ger
many before coming home, said
Debbie.
He looks forward to spending
some of the dough he made, ac
cording to family members.
"Maybe starting a dance club,"
guessed Debbie.
"First, he wants to go to school
and get a business degree," said his
sister, Tribal member Nicole. "He
wants to do something (big with it).
He doesn't want the money to
dwindle away."
Barely 21, Estrada has won the
hearts of many. Of course, it is no
surprise that his grandmother says
ing and clapping. He jumped off
the stage. That's so Erik."
Nicole was into poetry at one
point. Out of the blue, Erik wrote
a poem and told her he wanted her
to hear it. It was
about his feelings,
something very unex
pected to Nicole, but
she said that she be
came aware from that
poem that she may
have had an influence
on him. He had gone
out of his way to show
her that what was im
portant to her was also
important to him.
"That was really cool,"
she said.
"He was always into
sports and girls, social
things," said Debbie.
He played soccer for
the Edison High
School Chargers in Huntington
Beach, California, helping them in
his senior year to win a state cham
pionship. In Iraq, said Nicole, Estrada bus
ied himself at Christmas decorat
ing the tree and organizing the
party. "He helped put that to
gether. He is really good at boost
ing morale. He gets everybody's
spirits up."
When Estrada came home for
two weeks leave at Thanksgiving,
family and friends rented a limou
sine to pick him up at the airport,
said Nicole.
Back home, he
entertained
"all the guys
from soccer,"
his middle
school princi
pal and other
friends
about 30
people. "All of
us were there."
Famously, a
car backfired
while he was
home and
Estrada's head
snapped
around, mem
bers of his fam
"That's a car, right?"
fr t
f '
Erik Estrada
ily recalled
he asked his family.
"He said it was strange driving
down the streets without looking at
the rooftops of buildings to see if
anyone was up there with a rifle,"
said Debbie. "He said he didn't feel
safe without having his weapon
with him. He felt safer in Baghdad
because he could carry a gun
there."
Still, the family is "more scared"
about him being there than he is,
said Nicole.
"Ninety percent of Iraqis are
happy we're there," his mother
quoted him as saying. "He's made
friends there that help them. He
said they're real generous and love
the Americans."
Although opportunities to in
volve himself in Tribal activities
were few in Huntington Beach,
Nicole recalls an Indian conference
that took place when Estrada was
in high school. "Erik was the rep
for our Tribe," she said. "He's a
very shining, personal personality.
He's very bright. He has a lot of
friends. He's one of those guys that
you really remember."
The family had an email from
Estrada following a recent bomb
ing at the U.S. Administrator's com
pound in Baghdad. "The bombings
shook his apartment but he and his
unit were ok," said Debbie.
Though he has told family mem
bers that he is lonely over there,
"he feels very confident that he is
doing the right thing. He really
takes pride with the people he is
helping over there," said Nicole.
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