When we become moms, we anticipate this to be a lifelong venture. As exhausting and relentless as it may seem at times, there is no other place weâd rather be than holding our children close to us, loving them more. Even as they get older and pull away, we grow attached in new and beautiful ways, and that is exactly the relationship Maria Cruz had with her son, Marine Corporal Brandon Javier Alvarez.
This article was submitted to CafeMom via freelance writer Deborah Cruz, who is a cousin of Marine Corporal Brandon Javier Alvarez.
On May 21, 2021, never could she have imagined what really happened to Brandon.
How could she have known that the last time she said goodbye to her son would be the last time sheâd get to hold him in her arms, ever. Nor could she have imagined how the truth of what transpired in the final moments of her sonâs life would be cruelly withheld from a grieving mother grasping for the truth like her last breath of air.
On that day in May, 22-year-old Marine Corporal Brandon Javier Alvarez left behind his mother, 2 brothers, 3 sisters, girlfriend, friends, family, and his command at Marine Corp Air Station Miramar in San Diego and took a new assignment in Manama, Bahrain.
His unit was the Fleet Anti-Terrorism Support Team Central Command (also known as FASTCENT), NSA Manama Bahrain, Marine Corps Security Force Regiment. He was one of the good guys. He was over there protecting all of us over here. He was a hero. No one that loved him could have imagined what would come next for Brandon. See the video for yourself.
Brandon was a proud, Mexican American, Marine corporal, but before he decided to dedicate his life to serving in the US Marine Corps and protecting the American people, he was the son of Maria Cruz and part of a big family who loved him.
He was a good man with a big personality. He enjoyed making people laugh, dancing, and boxing. Brandon inspired the people around him to do and be better. He had big dreams and didnât mind working hard for his American dream. Brandon was the kind of young man who wanted to give his mom a house and was actively working on making that happen. Brandon Javier Alvarez was doing well and moving up the ranks, had a girlfriend he loved and admired, and was focused on the future. All he needed to do was make it until he came back home and everything he ever wanted was there waiting. But that never happened. He never made it home again.
During the night of June 6, just 2 short weeks after arriving in Manama, Bahrain, Brandon was found dead in his room in what was later reported as a ânon-combat related incident.â
That was it. Two local Marines showed up at his motherâs door in the early morning hours to give her the news. She knew it was not good news the moment she saw them in their uniforms. Every military momâs worst nightmare was coming true, right there in her living room. All of the fears sheâd harbored since her boys enlisted were playing out.
That was all the information she was given. Itâs still an ongoing investigation. But a mom wants answers.
You canât just tell moms the baby we created and grew in our bodies for 10 months, the very one they lay on our chest at birth, is just gone with little to no explanation. How can a mother accept that? Why would a mother accept that? Only that was not the end of it.
None of this makes sense.
A perfectly healthy, happy young man arrives in Bahrain and two weeks later he is suddenly found dead in his room and everyone is acting like this is business as usual. Initially, the family wasnât even allowed to identify the body.
He arrived at Dover Air Force Base Delaware in a casket draped in the American flag, and his brother and sister â who flew from Thousand Oaks, California â were forbidden from coming any closer than 40 yards away.
It would be another week, June 17, before Brandon would arrive back home in Thousand Oaks, California, where his family and friends could finally lay him to rest.
This is a small comfort, considering they were given no reasonable explanation as to how or why he was found dead in his room. How can the military expect a mother to just accept the death of a child and move on when none of it makes sense?
It wasnât like he was old and died of natural causes or was ill and succumbed to an illness. He was simply found dead. Only people are not just found dead. Sons and daughters donât just spontaneously die for no reason at all. A child is not disposable; we canât just make another one.
Brandon was in constant contact with his family and girlfriend â daily, in fact.
He would have said something if he was feeling sick. But sometime between his daily call with his brother and the one with his girlfriend, something dubious happened to him. None of us knows what that was yet. We know it wasnât natural.
As parents, when we allow our children to serve in the military, as much as we are afraid of what could happen to them, we are proud of them for choosing to serve our country in such a brave and valiant way. There is a knowledge and a risk that something terrible could happen in the line of duty, but not something sinister. It is every military parentâs worst fear come true.
Brandon had his life stolen in Manama, Bahrain, and his family needs truthful answers about what happened that night in his room.
The investigation is ongoing. There is a GoFundMe page set up to help the family continue their quest to get #Justice4CplBrandonJavierAlvarez.
Why is what happened to Marine Corporal Brandon Javier Alvarez important to every parent? Itâs important because if this could happen to Maria Cruz, it could happen to any mom or dad whose child is serving in the military. Knowing the truth and getting justice for Brandon might prevent the next service man or woman from coming home in a casket draped with the American flag from a sudden, non-combat related death.
