MIAMI, FL, US
U.S. Navy
HN, 1ST MDIV FMF PAC
09/07/2007, GARMSIR DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN
HN William F. Ortega was killed in Afghanistan on June 18, 2010. Only in the US Navy for a short time, he volunteered to serve his country as a medical Corpsman. Instructors at NHCS and FMTB taught HN Ortega to care for his Marines. The Miami, Florida resident, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom as part of the I Marine Expeditionary Force and was aiding and sheltering a wounded Marine when he was killed in Helmand province, a victim of an improvised explosive device. HN Ortega was assigned to the 3d Battalion, known as “The Thundering Third”, 1st Marines, based in Pendleton, California. He was twenty-three years old.
The pride and bright spot of family and friends, HN Ortega is survived by his parents, five sisters, a brother-in-law who is US Navy, and grandparents.
After graduating from South Dade Senior High in 2005, he joined the U.S. Navy in May 2008 and moved to Camp Pendleton in California to train as a corpsman, which is similar to a medic. Friends and family knew he wanted to serve his country. At the start of training in California, adjusting to West Coast life was hard for Ortega. With the help of friends he adjusted but still longed for home and would choose Miami for a future assignment if possible. Ortega was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, NATO Non Article V Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.