Immigrant U.S. Soldier Granted Posthumous Citizenship

C O N Y E R S, Ga., April 8 -- More than 31,000 members of the U.S. armed forces are not American citizens, but some of them have already given their lives in Iraq. Army Pfc. Diego Rincon, 19, was one of them.

Rincon has been awarded posthumous U.S. citizenship, U.S. Sens. Zell Miller, D-Ga., and Sazby Chambliss, R-Ga., announced today.

In Rincon's honor, Miller and Chambliss are seeking automatic citizenship for all foreign-born soldiers killed fighting for the United States.

"I know Diego is in heaven looking down here and smiling," his father, Jorge Rincon said after the announcement. "He is so very happy right now because this was something he was looking forward to for a long time. He loved this country so much. We are very, very grateful."

When the Rincon family of Conyers, Ga., first got the news of their son's death, all of the memories of his life came rushing back.

"When I saw those people from the United States army coming last Saturday at 3:30, everything changed — all my life," Jorge Rincon told Good Morning America in an earlier interview. "I ask God why, why us, why Diego?"

Rincon died March 29 while manning an Army roadblock near Najaf when a suicide bomber posing as a taxi driver detonated abomb.

Officially, Rincon was a permanent U.S. resident, not a U.S. citizen, but his family said the events of Sept. 11, 2001, inspired him to join the military and defend his adopted home. The Rincon family fled Colombia for the suburbs of Atlanta when Diego was 5 years old.

100 Percent American

Joining the military makes the application process for U.S. citizenship less difficult, but it still takes time. But Rincon wasn't fighting in Iraq in exchange for his official citizenship, according to his 20-year-old brother Fabian Rincon. He said the young soldier was fighting for what he believed in, because in his mind and in his heart, he was already 100 percent American.

Even so, Fabian said Diego and other foreign nationals who die in battle should have their status upgraded to U.S. citizen.