On May 18, 1987, Omar Ernesto Torres was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was the youngest of three children - four years younger than his oldest sister, Oralia and one year younger than his older brother, Oscar.
Like any other child, Omar was rambuctious, he was mischevious, curious, and most of all playful. Growing up, he was very hyper - always getting into trouble with his parents as well as his teachers in school. He was just one of those kids that didn't understand the meaning of "listen". But he was a sweet, helpful, and passionate kid.
When it came to sports, nothing else mattered. It's safe to say that football was his first love. Watching football on Sundays with family was a common activity at home and as soon as he was old enough, he played football in grammar school and in high school. He attended St. Richard's School but played football for Queen of Universe (St. Richard's didn't have a football team). But, he did play basketball for St. Richard's and successfully took his team to the championships where they, unfortunately, lost. He also played baseball for Archer Manor.
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High school came and went, attending DeLaSalle Institute with his brother Oscar, Omar finally learned of his calling. While there, sports was still a huge part of his life where he continued to play football and also joined the wrestling team. It was there he decided that he wanted to go into Political Science and pursue a career in politics. With the help of a special teacher, Dr. Pena, he was able to pursue those dreams by receiving a full scholarship ride to The Ohio State University.
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At Ohio State, Omar thought about trying out for the football team and he did but wasn't tall enough to make the team. He then decided it was time to focus on his studies. Omar studied Political Science and Chinese throughout his first and second year of college.
It was during his second year of college that Omar decided he needed to do more. He joined the Ohio National Guard. But this wasn't enough, even though his commanding officers thought differently. Omar ignored his commanding officer's suggestions of going through officer's training because Omar felt that it would be the right thing to start from the bottom and work his way to the top. This was always Omar's way of thinking and it wasn't going to change now.
Omar decided that joining the military was what he needed to do in order to change things that he felt needed to be changed. After getting feedback from his parents on whether or not they agreed to let him join the military, Omar still took it upon himself to make that decision. His mind was already made up and he joined the United States Army.
Omar never let anything get in the way of him accomplishing his goals. Once he set his sights on something he wanted, he was determined to get it. In one particular situation, while in the Army, he wanted to go overseas to fight for what he believed in. When he figured out that his commanding officers weren't going to help him get where he wanted to go, he helped himself. Omar borrowed a friend's car and drove to Virginia to plead his case of why he wanted to go overseas with U.S. Army. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that they complied.
In March of 2006, Omar was off to Fort Benning, Georgia for Basic Training. He would then soon get transferred to Fort Hood, Texas before his deployment to Iraq. In May of 2007, he was shipped off to Iraq. He would occasionally send letters to his family. He also spent time in Kuwait before going to Iraq where he had bought trinkets for his family.
On August 22, 2007, during combat operations in the field, an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near his unit - he died of those wounds he sustained by the IED. He was only 20 years old - he had just celebrated his birthday in May.
Omar's loss is a tragic one. He sacrificed his young life for people he didn't know and never met but because he felt so strongly in serving his country, he did it selflessly.
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We continue to honor his memory by giving back to the community as he would have done:
~June 2009, a charter school for students Kindergarten to 8th Grade was named after him a block from his childhood home;
~An annual fundraiser is organized by Omar's family to raise funds for a scholarship fund in his honor. The fund is set up at his Alma mater, De La Salle Institute, and helps students with financial needs;
~April 2013, the community honors Omar by naming the street he grew up on after him in the city of Chicago;
~August 2015, The Ohio State University honors Omar by naming one of their housing units after him on campus.