Here lives Herminia Ramos whose son Natividad de Jesús Méndez Ramos bears the dubious distinction of being the poorest coalition soldier to die in the Iraq war. “Tivito” fell on April 4, 2004 when the ammunition his superiors had supplied his 16-member battalion proved tragically insufficient, forcing them to use knives to fight the enemy. Only four brave soldiers fended off the Iraqi insurgents after Tivito was killed and 12 others were injured, prompting the Spanish counterparts in their brigade to dub them “Los Guacamayos,” a takeoff on their hometown. Prior to this, the brigade had been given the unflattering name, “Winnie the Pooh.” The national newspaper, El Diario de Hoy, ran two articles about Tivito on March 31 of this year, commemorating the anniversary of his death and calling him a national hero.

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