Diego, born in Hildago County, Texas, graduated William Howard Taft High School in San Antonio, TX in 2008. He participated in the Reserves Officer Training Corps for two years, and enlisted in Army July 2009 as an MP.

        He deployed to Afghanistan in April 2010 with the 64th MP Company. Diego is survivied by his parents and eight brothers and sisters. He is interned at the Rio Grande Valley State Veterans Cemetery, Mission, TX.

        His sister Gabriela Montoya, 22, cradled a framed portrait of her brother in uniform, sitting next to her mother, Rosie Guerra, who called her son a hero and a patriot.
        "He wanted to do this so badly," she said. "This is what he always wanted to do. I call him my precious son, my precious, precious son."
         His family members said the 2009 Taft High School graduate was a hopeless romantic. They said he had a tough side, reflected by his huge collection of war movies, but, tucked at the end of the gung-ho DVDs was a copy of "High School Musical."
         His Air Force ROTC instructor, Christian M. Glombik, said talking to Montoya was like talking to a 50-year-old. "When you get to that age, you realize the things that are important to you in life," Glombik said in his office. "He realized those things very early. He was a young man that was all heart. He definitely believed in core values. His family and friends were important to him, and his word was his bond."
         Glombik said Montoya juggled a part-time job with school and was well liked by fellow cadets. And, Glombik said, he always had his heart set on enlisting in the Army.
         On his MySpace page, Montoya listed his military police nickname as Ironman. His codename was Hawkeye. "I'm a soldier in the United States Army, and I'm good at what i do," he wrote on the page. "I'm a solo guy. Love just doesn't seem to want to meet up with me. Of course my job does get in the way but it shouldnt make a difference. I'm a really cool guy once you take the time to know me. Friends are my downfall. I'd do anything for any of them." His favorite song was John Michael Montgomery's "Letters From Home," about a soldier getting letters from loved ones.

         That song also resonates with Gabriela Montoya. She drives her brother's black Ford Ranger pickup, and while cleaning the interior recently, she found a surprise - all of the letters she'd written him.
         His stepfather, Steve Guerra, told the Monitor in McAllen that Montoya was born in McAllen and raised in Mission, but moved to San Antonio with his family about four years ago.
Montoya was serving his first tour in northern Afghanistan. "He was a great kid," Guerra said. "He was very dedicated to the Army, and he wanted to be a soldier since as long as I can remember."

Edited from an article written by Vincent T. Davis - Express-News