DOWNEY – George De La Torre, a worker in Downey’s public works department, was publicly recognized at Tuesday’s City Council meeting for his military service. De La Torre has been a city employee for 17 years, and is currently a leadworker performing parks, trees and landscaping maintenance.

Below are the remarks made by public works director Mohammad Mostahkami:

“George was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. He comes from a hardworking family, with two older siblings and younger sister. At the age of 17, George began his extraordinary journey to this country.

Currently, George works seven days a week for the cities of Downey and Rosemead. When he does have days off, he reports to Port Hueneme where he is a Seabee and part of the Navy Reserve. He is a proud parent to six kids.  Following Dad’s footsteps, his two older daughters are part of Army active duty. George has dedicated the last 10 years to the Navy reserve while serving this city.

“After serving four years in the Navy reserve, in 2007 he was called for active duty. His first deployment was overseas in Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. On this deployment he worked doing construction for military bases.

After two years, George was called again to serve on the Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. In that deployment, George worked in detainee operations. In 2012 he was hand-picked and deployed to Afghanistan and trained the Afghan National Army.

“Working for the city of Downey and the Navy has taught him valuable lessons like honor, courage, and commitment.

“While working for the city, he has completed college courses in landscaping which have allowed him to work on important projects such as designing the irrigations systems for Golden Park, Crawford Park and the Columbus High School ball field.

“He has future goals of becoming a supervisor for the city as well as a Navy chief.”

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Published: July 10, 2014 - Volume 13 - Issue 13