Isidro S. Bazán

May 15, 1947 – July 5, 1968

Soldier Killed in Vietnam – In just 16 more days, Specialist 4 Isidro “Chilo” Bazán, 21, would have been sent home to Alameda from Vietnam. Yesterday, his mother, Mrs. Santos Garcia, of 10005 Edith NE, was notified that he had been killed in an aircraft landing zone while on duty with the 19th Engineering Battalion. Isidro was “a nice gentle boy who everybody loved,” and told his parents that he hoped to be married soon after his return to the States. He attended Valley High School and was a member of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church. Before going into service in August 1966, he had often helped out with the elderly residents at Good Shepherd Manor. He was a plasterer and probably would have followed his craft when he returned, his mother said. His father, Sigfredo Bazán, resides in Albuquerque. Other survivors include two half-brothers, Raymond and Santos García Jr., and five half-sisters, Antoinette, Jeanette, Yolanda, Clarita, Mary Josephine and his stepfather, Santos Garcia Sr. Funeral arrangements will be announced.

“I met Chilo at Alameda Elementary School in 1953. He was a friendly kid and we enjoyed doing and saying silly things. He laughed when he figured out why I was calling ‘Ordisi Nazab.’ He then started calling me ‘Ile Allidap.’ I cannot remember what grade we were in when our PE teacher brought boxing gloves to school. Chilo and I were the first to get a chance to show off our boxing skills. We tried to look like the professional boxers we watched on Friday nights with our dads. We were ‘bobbing’ and ‘weaving’ and then I hit him with a ‘thunderous’ blow with my ‘mighty’ left fist. He fell to the ground and I felt I had found the sport in which I might excel. He got up slowly and the ‘fight’ resumed. Out of nowhere came a punch that sent me down. The ground jumped up and into my face. I wish I could call him to settle the match, i.e., one of us winning two out of three rounds. I wish I could hear his laugh once again.” Ile Allidap