Marine Staff Sgt. Jorge A. Molina, 37, Rialto; Killed in Action in Iraq

Ten years ago, when he was recently married and the father of one child, Jorge A. Molina joined the Marine Corps as a way to support his family.

Last week, after receiving news of the staff sergeant’s death in Iraq, his widow, Dina, pondered the fact that she will now have to raise their three children on her own.

“The only thing I want is to get my kids ahead,� she said. “But I don’t know how. I have not had time to think about it.�

Her 37-year-old husband was killed May 23 in action in Al Anbar province, military officials said.

Molina, whose family lives in Rialto, was assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.

Born in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, he came to Los Angeles with his mother when he was 5, relatives said.

His mother, Maria Molina, worked odd jobs as she raised seven children in East Los Angeles and Southeast Los Angeles.

Jorge Molina, the middle child, attended Huntington Park High School, where he played football.

As an adult, Molina worked at supermarkets, a car dealership and as a security guard, his widow said.

While guarding an office building in Santa Monica in 1990, he met his wife, who worked as part of the night cleaning crew. “He was very charismatic,� she said.

By the time they married in 1994, they already had their first child, Jorge Alberto Jr., now 12.

With plans for a bigger family, Molina, then in his mid-20s, decided to join the Marines.

“He used to say that it was a way he could offer his children a future and have himself a good future,� his widow said.

The couple had two other children: Jose Alberto, 7, and Carlos Alberto, 4.

Molina served three months in Iraq, beginning in February 2003, then was redeployed this February.

In phone calls from Iraq, Molina, using a Spanish term of endearment that refers to animals’ young, asked his wife how his cachorros were doing. The last time the children spoke to their father on the phone was the day before he was killed.

To care for his family, Molina planned to spend 20 years in the Marines and then work for the U.S. Customs Service, his widow said. “He wanted his children to study and get a career,� she said.

Still reeling from the news of his death, Dina Molina also was wondering about what kind of work she could do to support her family. “I have dedicated my life to raising my children,� she said.

Funeral arrangements for Molina were still being finalized, but the family said he would be buried at Riverside National Cemetery.