FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 95 - ENGLISH

EDUCATION AND COEXISTENCE 28 Georgina remembers August 25, 2010, as the day her family's life changed fore- ver. Her son, Guardia Civil Commander José María, was 33 when he was murde- red in Afghanistan while taking part in a NATO international mission to train Afghan security forces. A member of the Rapid Action Group (GAR), one of the Guardia Civil's elite units specializing in counterterrorism and high-risk opera- tions, he had built a career marked by a vocation for service and commitment to his profession. That day, while teaching a police trai- ning class at the Spanish base in Qala- i-Naw, he was attacked by the driver of the Badghis police chief. José María was shot in the back, alongside Lieutenant Abraham Leoncio Bravo and interpreter Attaolah Taefi, who also lost their lives in the attack. "He was doing his job, tea- ching, helping others; that is why it is so hard to understand what happened," Georgina explains. The news reached the family amid con- fusion. "They told me he had had an ac- cident, but I already sensed that some- thing serious had happened," she says. Shortly afterward she received a call from one of her husband's colleagues. "He told me he was very sorry, and then I understood there was no going back." José María's vocation had appeared long before he wore the uniform. Although he came from a home with a long Guardia Civil tradition — his grandfather and fa- ther belonged to the corps and his bro- ther is also in the military — his mother says that the decision was entirely per- sonal. "I do not know exactly when that vocation was born, because we did not live in a barracks house or in an espe- cially military environment, but he was very clear about it." In him, that vocation already coexis- ted with a very defined character from childhood. As a boy, he stood out for his open and generous personality. "He was a truly good soul," his mother sums up. Those who knew him describe him as athletic, very close to his friends, and especially attached to his cousins. Bas- ketball was one of his great passions. "The coach used to say he lacked a mean streak," his mother says with a smile. That kindness and uncommon tenacity accompanied him throughout his life. Tarazona de la Mancha, his mother's hometown, holds a special place in the family's memory. Many of his summers and much of the family's memories took place there. "All his cousins ad- mired him very much. For the younger ones he became a role model," Georgina says. Even today, every August 25 the family gathers in the town to pay tribu- te to him. The municipality named him an adopted son and the city of Albacete granted him the title of favored son. A VOCATION FOR SERVICE His inclination tohelpothers became evident when he was very young. Georgina recalls that the school's psychoeducational tests always reached the same conclusion: a clear vocation for service. "InUtiel, a housewhere elderly people lived caught fire, and he did not hesitate to go in and help," she says. That way of understanding life would ultimately define his professional path as well. 11M EXHIBITION IN ALBACETE GEORGINA CÓRDOBA MOTHER OF GUARDIA CIVIL COMMANDER JOSÉ MARÍA GALERA CÓRDOBA, VICTIM OF JIHADIST TERRORISM IN AFGHANISTAN ` Text: Ana García "José María won the affection of those around him and was always ready to help" Demands never intimidated José María. That is why he chose to join the GAR, a unit whose selection process includes some of the toughest physical tests in the Guardia Civil.