Twin brother, family mourn 22-year-old

Friday, June 24, 2005 | 11:08 a.m.

At the doorway to the Holy Family Catholic Church Thursday, a small photo in the upper right-hand corner of a collage of photos showed Jesse and Joel Jaime, twins, at about 5 years old, in matching white shirts and black shorts and vests, with expressions between shy and frisky, standing in the same church.

That must have seemed a lifetime ago to the dozens of family members on the other side of the doors.

Inside the church at about 10:30 Thursday morning, Joel's wife, Sahvanna, broke into tears as she read "God shall wipe away all tears" from Rev. 7:17. Several feet away was Marine Cpl. Jesse Jaime's casket, covered by a U.S. flag.

Joel, also a Marine corporal and in his dress uniform, walked up to the dais and silently escorted her off, with a hand on her back.

Several hours later, shortly before Jesse was laid to rest, Joel himself broke down, while telling a room of about 150 family members, friends, and veterans, "I've seen him in combat and ain't nobody gonna take that away from me."

Marine Cpl. Jesse Jaime, 22, died June 15 near Ramadi, Iraq, after a bomb exploded under the Humvee in which he and four Marines were riding. His comrades died with him.

Jaime was one of three Las Vegas Valley residents who died in Iraq last week.

Jaime's death drew what Father Alexis Davila called the largest gathering of people for a memorial service in his year and a half at the Las Vegas church.

Alexis alternated between Spanish and English, as did members of Jaime's family when they spoke. His parents and some of his other relatives and friends were born in Cuba.

Near the end of Alexis' remarks, he said, "Let us remember him full of youth and happiness, the way he would have wanted."

Everyone stood and applauded for about a minute.

Shortly after noon, when the mourners had moved to the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery chapel in Boulder City, Joel remembered his brother as a Marine.

"I was proud to serve with him," he said.

"Any other Marines here ... just remember what we fight for."

And he struggled with tears.

Rafael Acosta, Jesse's cousin, reminded those present how the Marines "have made a difference" since their creation at the end of the 18th century.

Then, switching to Spanish, he said, "As long as there is someone in this family left standing, Jesse will not be forgotten."

The room broke into applause.

Three Marines presented Jesse's Purple Heart medal to Jaime's parents.

A 21-gun salute echoed in the arched passageway next to the chapel.

Jesse's girlfriend, 18-year-old Jessica Escamilla -- his best friend Eugene's little sister -- sobbed into Joel's shoulder, clutching a brown and white stuffed dog Jesse had sent her.

"He told her, 'Keep it with you always.' And that's what she's been doing," Jessica's mother, Nancy Zapata, said as the crowd slowly filed out toward the grave site.

At Cpl. Jesse Jaime's grave, several friends and fellow Marines took off their dog tags and asked a worker named Greg to place them in the earth with their fallen comrade's casket.

Jaime's great-grandmother, whom everyone called "abuela," handed him a white teddy bear with a red ribbon.

And as the casket was slowly lowered into the ground, a hot wind blew from the west, and Joel methodically stripped his uniform of ribbons, shooting badge and a brocade called the French fourragere, and passed them on to the gravedigger. The gravedigger put them on the casket.

Sgt. Joseph A. Kapala, who helps families deal with the loss of loved ones in combat, said he had not seen a similar gesture in the 192 funerals he has witnessed.

"I guess he thought, 'You've given everything with your life so I'm giving you everything I've got.' That's everything he's earned in the Marines," Kapala said.

Afterward, Jesse's buddy, Eugene Escamilla, who is due to serve in Iraq in the coming weeks, was at a loss for words.

He had comforted his sister, Jessica, while the casket was put in the ground.

"I couldn't think of what to give to him," he finally said, referring to the gestures of his fellow Marines. He shook his head and kicked the dirt with his right foot.

"It all came too sudden. I still don't believe it. I just don't believe it."