RAISED IN A ONE-ROOM HOUSE WITH NO PLUMBING

LTG Sanchez was the one who confirmed U&Q Husseins' deaths on TV earlier this week

McCaffrey said Sanchez's character of "maturity, fairness and care for his soldiers" stems from his rough upbringing in Rio Grande, Texas. Sanchez was raised by a single mother in a one-room house with no plumbing. His mother strongly believed education would propel her children out of poverty and she educated herself while working full-time.

Joe Galloway, a friend of Sanchez's who rode with him for a time during the Gulf War, said Sanchez was heavily influenced by his older half-brother Domingo, who served in the army while Sanchez was growing up.

"He would come home on the eve of Christmas telling stories about going around the world, and made Rick want to be a military man," Galloway said. When an ROTC officer visited Sanchez's junior high school, Sanchez was hooked. A military officer who ran the ROTC program later granted Sanchez a four-year scholarship to a Kingsville College, now part of Texas A&M University.

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