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 HISTORICAL ARCHIVES  Sgt. Jesse Aliganga |
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or any personal recollections, please send a note so that we can might all be able to share his memory
to: history@embassymarine.org
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Awards & Decorations
Personal Bio:
US State Dept Press Release Arlington National Cemetary Website Jewish World Review: Michelle Malkin Letter from Lt Col Sabal Source: Online at - http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2001/11/12/fallen_veteran_of_an_undeclared_war Michelle Malkin makes news and waves with a unique combination of investigative journalism and incisive commentary. She is the author of Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild .
By Joshua Benton / The Dallas Morning News ______________________________________________________________________________
Mother
says, "I just hope this will send a message to the
terrorists -- we will have justice served,".. Sgt
Jesse Nathanael Aliganga, USM (MSG) In Tallahassee, relatives of Jesse Nathanael Aliganga, a 21-year-old Marine sergeant also killed in the bombing remembered him as a little guy with a big heart. "He had so many goals," said his mother, Clara Aliganga, 43, who runs a day-care center out of her home. He wanted to make sergeant in his first four-year tour, and was proud when he did in July. After postings in Okinawa, Japan and Camp Pendleton, Calif., Aliganga finished the security guard school in Quantico and was sent to Nairobi. Aliganga was born in Oakland, Calif., and grew up in Pensacola, Fla., becoming an energetic and ambitious youth who liked drawing, reading Greek mythology, playing the saxophone in his high school band and collecting comic books, family members recalled. When he was assigned to Nairobi in February, his sister, Leah Colston said: "My mother had great misgivings. . . . You hear about these things that can happen." But her brother seemed happy. At first, Clara Aliganga said, the State Department told her that Nathan was in the hospital. But later Friday, she learned that he was listed as missing. And yesterday morning military officials came to her home. "They said he . . . had died at his post," she said. His sister said the family is hurting. "He promised us he was going to come home," she said. "It doesn't end the pain," Clara Aliganga told reporters afterward. Her son, Nathan, was killed in the blast. "I just hope this will send a message to the terrorists -- we will have justice served," she said At the trial: Jurors and spectators cried again during testimony by the prosecution's final witness, Clara Aliganga, of Tallahassee, Fla. The witness -- mother of Sgt. Nathan Aliganga, 21, a Marine who died in Nairobi -- said she wished her son could "hold me so tight like he used to and say, `Mom, I love you."' The mother of a 20-year-old US Marine guard killed by the bomb told the jury that her son had had a close relationship with his young niece. "All she ever heard was that her uncle had gone to heaven," testified Clara Aliganga. "And one day she asked when he would be coming home. She said, God has had him up there an awfully long time." Clara Aliganga, mother of Jesse Aliganga, Marine sergeant killed in Kenya (speaking outside courtroom): "I'm happy for the verdict that came through .... It doesn't erase the pain. The jury did an excellent job, and I just hope that this will give a message to the terrorists that we won't take this lightly as Americans, that there will be justice to the families when they attack us, that we're not just going to sit back and not do anything about it. We will take it to court and that we'll see justice is served." Marine
Sgt. Jesse Nathan Aliganga Died
August 7 1998 From
combined news sources…
Marine killed in embassy blast identifiedStaff Sgt. Matt Hevezi Camp Smith, Hawaii CAMP H. M. SMITH, Hawaii (Aug 10) -- A Marine Corps sergeant has been identified among the 11 Americans killed in Friday's simultaneous terrorist bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Sgt. Jesse N. Aliganga, 21, of Tallahassee, Fla. was one of three servicemembers killed, Pentagon officials said Saturday. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Sherry Lynn Olds, 40, of Panama City, Fla.; and Army Sgt. Kenneth R. Hobson II, 27, of Nevada, Mo. were listed with Aliganga as dead. Aliganga was assigned as a U.S. embassy guard in Nairobi, Kenya and was on duty when the blast occurred. He joined the Marine Corps in January, 1995. Aliganga served with the 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa, Japan and was assigned to the 1st Force Service Support Group at Camp Pendleton, Calif. when he was selected to become a Marine security guard. "These bombings are a stark reminder of the threat to U.S. personnel posed by terrorists whose only means of attacking America is through cowardly acts," said Defense Secretary William S. Cohen in a released statement Friday. "The loss of one American serviceman or diplomat to such acts is one too many. Our men and women in uniform serve proudly and selflessly around the globe with full knowledge that they face additional dangers abroad because they wear the uniform." Cohen vowed America would "bring to justice" those responsible for the bombing. More than 1,000 Marines serve as security guards inside 134 U.S. embassies worldwide. Two 50-Marine anti-terrorist security teams were included in immediate response to the bombings as part of 14 military flights to Africa loaded with security and medical teams. The only other Marine casualty was Sgt. Daniel M. Briehl who was also assigned to the U.S. embassy in Nairobi. Briehl was treated for his injuries and released. Of the 15 Marines assigned security duties in Nairobi and the six at the U.S. embassy in Addis Ababa, Tanzania, all were reported accounted for by Marine officials on Saturday. DoD spokesman Army Lt. Col. Steve Campbell said Aliganga's body is being transported to the United States and is scheduled to arrive at Andrews Air Force Base Wednesday. He said funeral arrangements were pending.
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