Jinzo earned two Purple Hearts in Desert Storm

For Mario Jinzo of Ruidoso, it is the war that tested him as a person, and made him into the man he is today. This is his story.

Jinzo was born on August 20, 1964 into the family of Ricardo and Rachel (Villa) Jinzo. He was born in Flagstaff, Arizona as the oldest of seven children. He was followed by Ricardo Jr., Rachel, Sarah, Diana, Jorge, and Gerardo, and his mother is a direct descendant of Pancho Villa.

"I grew up in California," Jinzo said. "My dad was in the United States Army, and so we moved around a lot. We lived in California until there was an earthquake, and then my mother said: ‘That’s it—we’re moving.’ So we packed up the family car and moved to Phoenix, Arizona."

Jinzo went to school there, and played forward on the Avondale Agua Fria High School basketball team. In his spare time, he and his neighborhood friends played kickball, baseball, and other sandlot sports in the streets of west Phoenix. He also enjoyed playing handball and racquetball.

"It was what we did," Jinzo laughed. "Kids today don’t do that—they are all inside playing video games and things like that."

Jinzo said that he learned a good work ethic from his dad, who was stern but not overly so.

"My dad was the hardest working man I ever knew," Jinzo said. "He was a side-gunner on a helicopter in Vietnam, was shot down twice, and survived both times. When he came back he was distant, but he sure worked hard and whenever he was mad he got his point across to me.’’

Jinzo graduated in 1983, and immediately enlisted in the Army.
"My mother was against it because of how my Dad came home from Vietnam," Jinzo said. "But it was my call and I did it."

Jinzo went through basic training at Ft. Jackson in South Carolina, then went to Ft. Bragg for Airborne training.

"I was glad to get out of Ft. Jackson," Jinzo said with a laugh. "They had old World War II barracks, and they were not built for comfort. I was used to the heat of Phoenix, and it seemed really cold in South Carolina."

Jinzo was assigned to Charlie Company of the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, or the Screaming Eagles. After jump training, he was sent to Ft. Gordon for communications training.

"Going through the Army and especially the Airborne—it matured me as a man," Jinzo said. "We had to work so hard, and they tested us when we were really exhausted and made us think and still make good decisions."

Jinzo went to a couple of other Army installations, and was responsible for inspecting the communications equipment on the implements of war the Army would use. Jinzo said he never really understood all the maneuvers and practice his outfit went through until he needed it.

And it wasn’t long before he would need it.

It was 1990, and Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait. The 101st Airborne was put on alert, and all the soldiers were told it was time to go to war.

"Standing on the tarmac, that’s when I first got really nervous," Jinzo said. "You know that’s it a possibility, but when the real thing happens it is overwhelming to get your arms around."

Jinzo said his outfit flew into Germany, and then into Saudi Arabia.

"We were given a lot of shots and inoculations," Jinzo said. "It was so bad blood was running down my arm. I asked if they really needed to give us so many shots!"

Jinzo said he was then sent out into the desert as a forward listening post.
"We were out there for what seemed like a month at a time dug into the sand," Jinzo said. "No one could see us from the air, and our job was to listen to what the Iraqi’s were doing. We rotated back after a month, but I got sick from a parasite and was out of action for a short time until the antibiotics took over."

Jinzo then says he was approached to do some spying in Kuwait City before Desert Storm was launched.

"I guess I look close enough to an Iraqi to be one," Jinzo laughed. "So they asked me to do some ‘advance’ work in Kuwait City to see how things were defended and what the lay of the land was. I was nervous about doing it because if I knew if I got caught they would chop my head off.
"I was dropped off in a truck early one morning and then walked around Kuwait City getting the drop on what was going on. After five days, I had to walk out until I found our lines again.
"Let me tell you, when I got back I was wearing Iraqi clothes, and they (American military forces) lit me up and told me to freeze until they could verify that I was an American,’’ Jinzo said. "For seven minutes I was outside of the perimeter with my arms in the air screaming that I am American, giving them my unit number and dog tag number before they finally let me in.
"I was really scared then."

But it wasn’t long before the real action began, and Sgt. Mario Jinzo and the 101st were involved in the invasion of Kuwait, and eventually Iraq. It was called Operation Desert Storm, and the 101st Airborne led the assault into Kuwait.

"Being ambushed was one of my biggest fears," Jinzo said.

In the early hours of battle, Jinzo says he was in a Humvee, the second in a line of three and they were racing through the Kuwait countryside. All of a sudden, the first Humvee was blown up, and the shrapnel tore through the second Humvee that Jinzo was in. The driver was killed, and Jinzo took shrapnel in the jaw and face. He was removed from the vehicle, and taken to a field hospital where the shrapnel was removed.
"I was there for a few days and they patched me up," Jinzo said. "It was the worst headache I ever had. After a few days, I asked to go back to my outfit and they let me." Jinzo received a Purple Heart for this action.

A number of weeks later, Jinzo says he and two other communication specialists were asked if one of them wanted to transfer into the 82nd Airborne, as one of their specialists had been killed.

"The other two guys had families, and I didn’t at the time so I volunteered," Jinzo said. "I took a lot of ribbing, but it was all in fun and so know I was a member of the 82nd."

According to Jinzo, a few months later, his unit was involved in helping put out the oil fires and doing guard duty.

"We were just about to leave when we were hit by a surprise attack," Jinzo says. "I was walking in the back of the patrol, and an RPG (rocket propelled grenade) hit the lead two guys. The guys in front of me were killed, and I was wounded pretty bad in the foot and leg. I thought I was going to lose it.’’

Jinzo survived, and won his second Purple Heart.

He was shipped back to the United States, where he recuperated. In 1996, he left the Army as a Master Sergeant after 13 years.

He later married his wife Cassandra, and he now has two boys named Cheyenne and Jeremiah and a daughter named Kaylen.

Mario lives in Ruidoso, and works at Starbucks.