By Angela Marshall
Two of her sons, Juan Jose and Raul, have served their duty with the Marines and moved on to other careers. But Miguel left for Iraq earlier this month.
Despite Carmen's pet name for the wall, Miguel, 38, is not a Marine like his brothers. The distinctions between military branches are lost on a mother who just wants her son to come home.
Miguel, who joined the Air Force in his early 20s, is a staff sergeant with a family of his own. His wife, Kimberly, and their three children, Renee, Marissa and Paul Michael, are waiting just as anxiously at their home on Maguire Air Force Base for his safe return.
Miguel and Juan Jose joined up within a few weeks of each other. "My heart was broken," Carmen said, and then corrected herself. She was proud, she said, but "part of me went with them."
Raul followed a few years later. For the Gabriel boys, joining the military was more than just a chance to show how much they loved their country, although that certainly played a part in their decisions. The military also provided them the means to get an education and to see the world beyond their small community.
Carmen and her husband, Angel, have a fourth son, Joe, who used his artistic talents to the same end and now works for Disney. He has a wall of his own, covered with pictures he created, including two caricatures of his parents.
Across from the Marine wall on the dining room table, the family Bible lies open in front of two candles lit in prayer to see Miguel safely home. The Gabriels rely on faith and their religious community at St. Agnes Cathedral to see them through until their prayers are answered. "They give you so much support and love," Carmen said of the priests and parishioners of St. Agnes. "We couldn't survive without them."
She tries not to watch TV, saying, "I can't have the war in here 24 hours." But there was one piece of news that brightened her day and made her feel like she could face the world again: the news that seven American soldiers, held hostage by the Iraqi military, had been rescued. "It was such a joy," Carmen said.
Some of the hostages were mechanics like her son. Miguel, who helps maintain his company's jets, has often tried to comfort his mother by saying, "I'm in the background, Mom."
After she learned of the rescue, Carmen finally felt good enough to go looking for yellow ribbon to tie around a tree in front of the family's St. Marks Avenue home. All she could find were yellow bows to put on presents. She taped up three of them.
Looking at the bows Monday afternoon, she whispered, "Oh please come back home soon."
