Army Pfc. Gustavo A. Rios-Ordonez, 25, of Englewood, Ohio
Pfc Rios-Ordonez was assigned to 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.; died June 20, 2011 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
Tiffani Rios and her two young daughters were outside of her mother's home in Eaton last Monday, June 20, preparing to leave when two United States Military personnel drove up.
When they exited their vehicle, Rios knew something bad had happened.
Rios was informed her husband of two years, Pfc. Gustavo A. Rios-Ordonez, 25, had been killed in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
Rios-Ordonez has been assigned to the 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas.
"I really didn't want to believe it all. I saw the guys getting out of the car because I was outside and I knew they were coming," she said. "The guy that told me was almost in tears. That didn't help me. I just really didn't want to believe it all."
During a phone interview Monday, June 27, Rios described her husband as "outgoing, caring, athletic and funny. Just everything in a good way. He also loved playing soccer."
She said their daughters, Isabella and Elizabeth, were part of the reason Rios-Ordonez, who was from Colombia, joined the military.
"He loved our daughters more than anything," she said.
The two met just before Rios' 19th birthday. Soon after they married and moved to Englewood.
"I met him about a week before my 19th birthday and we just started hanging out," she said. "It's kind of funny. I thought he was Mexican because of being at a Mexican restaurant, but he's actually from Colombia."
Rios, whose maiden name is Salisbury, is a 2007 graduate of Eaton High School.
She said the past week has been rough.
"I've been in denial most of it. I really don't believe that is him," she said. "It's just been hard. I don't want to believe it."
Rios said her husband, who moved to the United States in August of 2007, joined the military to make his daughters proud, as well as better himself.
"He just really wanted something different. He wanted both of our daughters to be proud of him," Rios said. "It's just something that would have helped him go forward in a career. He just wanted the girls mostly to be proud of him. "
Rios said her husband has always been her hero.
"He's always been my hero just for everything he's ever wanted to do for the girls," she said. "Not just because of this and everything that has happened. If other people want to call him a hero then, fine, whatever, I don't really care. But he's just always been mine and the girls' hero."
Rios said spending time alone is extra hard.
"It's just been really hard. Every time I'm alone I constantly cry," she said. "When the girls are around I hide it. They have no idea what's going on right now."
The girls are 2-years old and 7-months.
"I've had a lot of support, even from girls I've never met, other Army wives and girlfriends and stuff," she said. "They're like mothers. They've just been really supportive. My family and Gustavo's family, they've all been really supportive."
Army Pfc. Gustavo A. Rios-Ordonez was killed in action on 6/20/11.
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