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E-mail StoryBakersfield soldier fighting for life
Liberty High graduate's family awaits prognosis
| Thursday, Dec 6 2007 8:20 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Dec 6 2007 8:22 PM
A Bakersfield couple are praying for their son who was badly burned Tuesday when the Humvee he was riding in was hit by a roadside bomb in northern Iraq.
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U.S. Army Pfc. Jamin Moore
Steve Alvidrez talks about his son Steven's friend, Jamin Moore, who was injured while serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq recently and is currently in a hospital in Germany. Alvidrez is the spokesman for the family. Kevin and Julie Moore, Jamin's parents, live in this home in Bakersfield.
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U.S. Army Pfc. Jamin Moore, 21, a Liberty High School graduate and football standout, suffered burns over 60 percent of his body, said Steve Alvidrez, a friend and designated spokesman for the family.
Moore was the lone survivor of the attack.
All three of Moore's fellow crewmen died as a result of the explosion, according to Alvidrez and an Army news release. All four were assigned to the Army's 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
After receiving emergency medical care, Moore was flown to an Army hospital in Germany. His parents, Kevin and Julie Moore, had expected their son to be flown by Wednesday to an Army burn center in San Antonio, Alvidrez said.
But doctors told the family Jamin's vital functions needed to be working better before subjecting the wounded soldier to the long flight back to the States.
"He's such a great kid, such a fine young man," Alvidrez said of Jamin. "Any parent would be proud to have him as a son."
Jamin's parents said through Alvidrez that they have received support and up-to-date information from the Army. They've even been able to speak to one of their son's doctors in Germany.
Since Tuesday evening, close friends and family, members of their church and fellow employees have rallied behind the Moore family, Alvidrez said.
"They're on a roller coaster right now -- good news, bad news," he said. "It's tough, especially when they can't be there with Jamin."
Steven Alvidrez, the 22-year-old son of Steve Alvidrez, has been Moore's friend since the first grade.
"Jamin was a junior at Cal State (Bakersfield), getting As and Bs, when he felt the call to serve his country," he said. "He could be in grad school right now, but he wanted something else."
The younger Alvidrez went to the Moore family home in southwest Bakersfield as soon as he heard the news, he said. There he stood in shock, half expecting the worst yet hoping for the best.
"His mom was in shock, crying," he said. "He has such awesome parents."
That theme of strong family bonds was repeated, independently, by all who were interviewed for this story.
Former Liberty High varsity football coach Chad Provensal, who coached Alvidrez and Moore when they served as team captains during their senior year, described Moore as "a quiet leader, a serious kid" and "one of the top people, character-wise," he's ever encountered as a coach.
"I have two boys myself. I can't imagine what his family is going through," he said. "He's the type of kid you'd want as your own son.
"But Jamin is tough," he added. "If anyone can come through this, he can."