Some of life�s sweetness was on its way to Cpl. Jose Angel Garibay, had he lived to taste it.

His mother, Simona, had sent off a package of his favorite Mexican candy to her son. And his favorite teacher, Janis Toman, was assembling a package of granola bars and cookies when she got word Monday that Garibay, age 21 and less than three years out of high school, had been killed in Iraq.

In his mother�s Costa Mesa, Calif., home, candles now burn before a photograph of �Angel,� as she called him, in his Marine dress uniform. He was a baby when Simona Garibay brought him to the United States from Jalisco, Mexico. Mexican and American flags dot the lawn outside her home.

�Like all mothers, we love all our children, but he was my pride and joy,� his mother said in Spanish. �It was a great honor having a Marine son.�

At Newport Harbor High School, Garibay played football but didn�t achieve the glory of a starter�s position. His job was to face off against the starting line in scrimma