Joanna Villegas Mortgage Grant Recipient April 2008

Joanna’s son, PFC Ivan Merlo, was killed in Iraq on January 8, 2008. Her son came home from Iraq in early December and married (with the girl’s parents consent) a 16-year-old high school girl. Less than a month later, he was killed in action. The young woman, now the legal wife of Ivan, collected all of the life insurance and continued on with high school life, several hundred thousand dollars the richer. Unfortunately, Ivan, the oldest of 4 children, was the breadwinner for his family; consisting of his mother and 3 other younger siblings. After her son’s death she suffered a breakdown and was granted temporary disability. She was fired from her job the next day. She makes $400/week in disability, and her rent in a small apartment is $800 per month—a hopeless situation. FallenWarriors, with the help of a grant from the Coronado, CA, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), has committed to helping Joanna by paying for her rent for the next year. This will allow Joanna to recover her health and regain employment. It is not always the widows that suffer after one of our brave warriors fall, and it is FallenWarriors’ privilege to step in when others turn a blind eye.