FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 95 - ENGLISH

EDUCATION AND COEXISTENCE 29 After entering the Guardia Civil as an officer in 2000, he took on increasingly demanding assignments. His training took him to Logrono, where he specia- lized in counterterrorism, and later to San Sebastián, where he met the woman who would become his wife. The couple married a few months before his deploy- ment to Afghanistan, in a ceremony held in Tarazona. "It was a very special day for all of us," his mother recalls. 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. "It fit his character perfect- ly," Georgina says. During one of those training sessions, he suffered a muscle tear after completing an extremely de- manding march. "He was at the limit; ambulances were ready in case anyone needed assistance, but he refused to quit. He reached the finish line and collapsed there. He was very tenacious." That spirit of sacrifice coexisted with a warm and family-centered personality. "He was very disciplined, but also very friendly, very funny. Everyone loved him." Among Georgina's memories is the image of that young officer inviting the whole family to the celebration of the Day of Our Lady of Pilar at his first posting, Utiel. "He never stopped loo- king after his own. We are a very close family, and he enjoyed those moments enormously." When the day came for him to leave for Afghanistan, concern was inevitable. Even more so because his younger brother, then serving in the Legion, was also in that country. But the Guardia Civil offi- cer tried to reassure his family. "He told us that the one who had to be careful was his brother, because he was inside a base providing training." No one could imagine that danger would come precisely there. Almost sixteen years have passed since that attack, but Georgina says there are wounds that never fully close. "The death of a child kills you. You keep breathing because you have to keep living, but your heart breaks. It is the soul that hurts." So- metimes she watches José María's class- mates continue to advance in their mili- tary careers and cannot help thinking of everything he had left to live. Even so, she finds comfort in thememory kept by those who shared his path. His colleagues promoted the naming of a mi- litary residence in Soria after him: Soria Unit Residence "Commander JoséMaría Galera Córdoba." "That shows they have not forgotten him," she says, moved. She also particularly values any initiati- ve dedicated to preserving the memory of victims of terrorism, convinced that remembrance remains necessary. "It is not only about my son. Many families have been through the same thing. If we let these stories be forgotten, new gene- rations will not understand the price so many people paid," she stresses. That need to keep memory alive is ac- companied by a reflection on the re- cognition given to those who serve on international missions. "Sometimes it seems that some victims are remembe- red more than others, and all deserve the same respect." She also admits that, sin- ce losing her son, she looks differently at those who wear a uniform. "When I see a young Guardia Civil officer, I feel great tenderness. I feel like hugging him." The image Georgina wants preserved of José María is that of a warm and generous young man, devoted to his work and very close to his family. "As a good person, which is what he was," she answers without hesitation. "He had a natural ability to win the affection of those around him and an attitude that was always ready to help." Then she adds a phrase that summarizes much of her pain: "And as a man who did not deserve to be shot in the back." For Georgina, her son remains very pre- sent. Time has taught her to live with absence, though never to fully accept it. "The death of a child is never overco- me," she says calmly. "You go through different stages, but a part of you dies with him forever." "He had a natural ability to win the affection of those around him and an attitude that was always ready to help."