Waukesha Families Support Each Other in Face of Tragedy

1^st Lt. Daren Hidalgo knew the risks that came with joining the military.

When Daren Hidalgo was in high school in Pennsylvania, he convinced his classmates to adopt Lance Cpl. Richard Warner, of Waukesha, when Warner went to fight in Iraq with the Marines.

“They sent him care packages and letters while he was over there,” said Warner’s sister, Kim Scott.

Warner, who was friends in high school with Jared Hidalgo, Daren Hidalgo’s older brother, was killed while in Iraq after receiving wounds in an explosion in December 2004. The Hidalgo family supported the Warner family throughout that tragedy, Scott said.

“We have done this with them before with my brother,” Scott said.

Now the tables have turned, and Warner’s family are the ones offering support to the Hidalgo family.

Daren Hidalgo, 24, of Waukesha, died Sunday after being wounded by an improvised explosive device made by insurgents in Afghanistan. His older brother, Miles Hidalgo, a captain in the Army, escorted his body home to the United States this week, Scott said.

“He was just so much fun. He just had this amazing smile and laugh,” Scott said. “It didn’t matter  – if you walked into the room you were instantly laughing, even if you don’t know what was going on.”

Daren Hidalgo graduated from West Point in 2009, the third in his family to do so. Miles Hidalgo previously attended the military academy, as did their father, Jorge Hidalgo, who was a captain in the Army. Jared Hidalgo is a captain in the Marines.

Daren Hidalgo completed infantry officer basic, airborne, ranger, Army combatives and Stryker leader courses at Ft. Benning in Georgia, according to an Army news release.

Daren Hidalgo was survived by his father, mother, Andrea Hidalgo, brothers and sister, Carmen Spellman, in addition to other friends and relatives.

While Daren Hidalgo could always bring a smile to his friends’ and family’s faces, he took his job with the Army very seriously, Scott said.

Despite his strong military upbringing, Daren Hidalgo was not forced into the Army. His father, Jorge Hidalgo, told Waukesha Patch on Wednesday that his son wanted to give back to his country.

“I guess it is in the environment you grow up in,” Scott explained. “You help others when you can.”

For Scott, there are too many memories to share of the kid she met through her younger brother. Daren Hidalgo was a student at Kettle Moraine Middle School and Kettle Moraine High School before his family moved to Pennsylvania where he finished high school.

Scott described the family friend as a “great guy.”

“You just keep seeing his face with that smile,” Scott said. “He was always ready with a joke, but he was ready to sit down and talk to you if you needed it.”