Alexander Michael Ortega, Jr. was born on March 14, 1958 in New York. Ortega grew up in Rochester, N.Y., and joined the Marines fresh out of Benjamin Franklin High School in 1976. In Lebanon, Ortega was stationed outside Beirut International Airport with the Marine unit nearest to the Muslim slums of West Beirut. On Aug. 29, 1983 the Lebanese army and Muslim militiamen were exchanging fire, and Ortega was reportedly in the command-post tent getting batteries for radios when a mortar barrage tore through the tent, killing Ortega and Second Lt. Donald Losey, 28, of Winston-Salem, N.C. He is now buried in the Sky View Memorial Park, Hometown, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, USA.