By Lee Landor

[Note: This article and its accompanying photos originally appeared in the queens Tribune in July 2006. This content is the rightful property of the Queens Tribune.]

Yolanda Ramon spent the last seven months crossing days off the calendar, waiting for her son Julian, who set out in December for his second tour of duty in Iraq, to return home.

The concerned mother’s calendar-marking came to an end July 20, when Cpl. Julian A. Ramon, a field radio operator who joined the Marines in 2003, was killed in combat in the al-Anbar province of Iraq, becoming the borough’s 14th military casualty in the War on Terror.

Ramon’s story is one of courage and dedication. Throughout his 22 years, he was true to himself, his family and his country, and gave his best to all three, receiving 11 military awards in the process. When the Marine was killed, the Queens community lost a man of true honor and passion.

“After high school, he joined the Marines because he wanted to make money for college. He wanted to work as a lawyer,” said his mother in their Flushing apartment on 45th Avenue. “I understand now that he died. I waited for him to call me, maybe he didn’t die; maybe there was confusion. I miss him so much, because he’s my life. He’d call and say ‘I love you, mommy, I’ll help you, mommy, don’t worry, mommy.’”

Yolanda and her youngest son, 16-year-old Juan, said they last saw Ramon in December, when they celebrated the holidays together before he set out for his second tour of duty. While in Iraq, Ramon called his family once or twice a week, and during recent months, they said he was becoming battle fatigued.

“He wouldn’t want to get us down or worried about him, so he would just act strong, but eventually he just couldn’t hide it anymore,” Juan said. “The last three months, he was saying ‘mommy, I’m tired, I don’t know what to do,’” Yolanda added.

While worrying about her son, Yolanda always reassured Ramon that she was praying for his well being and reminded him that he would soon be home. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, and would have returned to his base at Camp LeJeune, N.C., in September. Ramon would have completed his duty with the Marines in April of next year.

Holding a picture of her son in her lap, Yolanda held back tears as she described her eldest son as outgoing and personable. “He was a good guy,” Juan said of his brother, explaining that the two were close. “We talked about practically everything, stuff that I couldn’t tell anyone else. When he went into the Marines, I was proud. I was like, ‘you gotta do what you gotta do.’”

That was not the case initially for his parents, Yolanda and Luis, who were more apprehensive about their son joining the Marines. The family moved to Flushing from Colombia when Julian was 4 years old. He graduated from John Bowne High School in 2002, and worked at Wendy’s and a nearby OTB with the goal of attending John Jay College to pursue a Criminal Justice degree.

The Marine had hoped to support his family, according to his mother, so that his parents would no longer have to work. After some convincing from friends, he joined the Marines, promising to begin college when he returned from duty. “Just give me time,” he told his mother during a phone conversation. Remembering her son’s words, Yolanda covered her face and began sobbing. “She brought him into this life,” Juan said trying to comfort his mother, “and now she has to put him in a casket.”

During his service, Ramon received 11 awards, including a Combat Action ribbon, an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and three Sea Service Deployment ribbons.

“Corporal Ramon has entered the ranks of our nation’s honored war dead, who have left us with a debt that we can never repay,” said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. “May he rest in peace.”

The wake will be held July 27 and 28 from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Quinn-Fogerty Funeral Home at 162-14 Sanford Ave. in Flushing. A mass for Ramon will be held at 10 a.m. July 29 at St. Michael’s Church at 136-76 41st Ave., Flushing followed by a burial at Long Island National Cemetery on Wellwood Avenue in Farmingdale, Suffolk County.