Mission soldier killed in roadside bombing

Mission soldier Jose Rubio died this morning or late last night in Iraq, according to family members.

The Army told his family that Rubio, an Army specialist, was killed in a roadside bombing. He was most likely one of four soldiers who died in a roadside bomb explosion in Baghdad Sunday, whose death brought the grisly toll of the war on U.S. personnel to an even 4,000 since the war began in 2003.

The military has not yet confirmed Rubio's death or the names of the four men killed Sunday.

Rubio turned 24 on March 19, according to his wife, Jennifer. The couple has an 11-month-old son, Nikolai, who was born last year while the couple was stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia.

Edgar Rubio, Jose's older brother, said two lieutenants contacted his sister-in-law after 7 a.m. this morning and delivered the news in person.

Jose "Joe" Rubio last visited home in January, Edgar Rubio said. He was deployed to Iraq last October.

Jennifer Rubio's family owns City Flower Shop on Conway Avenue, where family and friends have gathered. In the back room, Jennifer slumped in a chair, looking wrung out, while relatives looked on sadly.

The couple had dated for eight years and married in May 2006. They were approaching their second anniversary.

Rubio, who born in Reynosa was the youngest of nine siblings and naturalized as a teen, had an associate's degree in computer science from South Texas College.

Six of the Rubio siblings still live in Reynosa and Matamoros, Edgar Rubio said. Their parents live in a small green house on Cummings Street in Mission.

Rubio's mother, Macaria, 67, had to be taken to see her cardiologist this morning after hearing the news, Edgar said.

He asked for the media and the public to give the family space to absorb the news and to grieve.

"Give us a little time," he said. "We're still in shock. It's not quite real."