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The Diego Rincon Freedom Scholarship
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"Columbian immigrant an avid musician, mechanic..."
From wire reports
Diego Rincon loved his Mustang.
“It was spotless, with a great sound system, the whole nine yards,” said Jerry Smith, an English and drama teacher at Salem High School in Conyers, Ga., where Rincon graduated in 2000.
Before shipping out to the Middle East, Rincon, 19, showed off the car’s latest detailing to Smith. He promised his former drama coach that he would take him for a spin when he finished restoring the car after he got back from Iraq.
Rincon is one of four children in a family that immigrated to the USA from Colombia. He was killed Saturday, March 29, in a suicide bombing attack at a military checkpoint north of the city of Najaf. Three other Army soldiers also died in the attack, in which a taxi driver waved to the soldiers for assistance and then blew up the vehicle.
Rincon was “just full of energy, full of life,” Smith recalled. “He was very much a people person. He really enjoyed people, and people enjoyed him. Whatever Diego decided to do, he did with full vigor.”
At Salem High, Rincon was a gymnast, a cheerleader and an avid actor and singer in school productions. He played a soldier in A Piece of My Heart, a drama about Vietnam War nurses. And he played Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He also sang in the musical Grease.
The mother of Rincon’s girlfriend said it was totally in character for the young soldier to come forward to help the Iraqi driver.
“He was doing what Diego would have done when summoned to help,” Leslie Montemayor told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He would have helped, and that’s how he died.”
On Monday, Rincon’s father talked with Smith. Smith said the man was in shock and was grieving. But he also promised to finish restoring his son’s Mustang."
To insure Diego and all fallen American soldiers are remembered for their courage, their patriotism and loyalty to our country, Mr. Rehorn created the "Diego Rincon Freedom Scholarship". For the past two years, the parent company of Tri-Starr Investigation, The Global Resource Group has awarded a $5,000. scholarship to a college-bound graduating senior of Salem High School in Conyers. Georgia. Students compete for scholarship by writing an essay on the topic, “What Does Freedom Mean to Me?” All Salem High School students who are going on to college are encouraged to write and submit an essay.
( Mr. Jerry Smith, Diego Rincon’s Drama Teacher at Salem High School, presents the 3rd annual Diego Rincon Freedom Scholarship to Haiyen Pham in 2008. )
( Rockdale County School Board member, Jean Yontz presents the 2nd recipient of the Diego Rincon Freedom Scholarship to Sara Abdalla in 2007.)
( Mr. Rehorn presents the first recipient of the Diego Rincon Freedom Scholarship to Evan Oller in 2006.)