Death of a Rancher

By all descriptions, Rob Krentz was such a man. The 58-year-old third-generation rancher was a peacemaker, respected by all who knew him. They say his very presence could calm. His 38,000-acre spread outside Douglas, Ariz., lay astride the Chiricahua Corridor, an old smuggling trail that meanders up from Mexico. Of late, with the drug wars crossing the border from Juarez and Tijuana, the lives of those who just want to be left alone to live along the border have been turned into lives of fear. Their homes are regularly burglarized, their security a thing of the past. Rob Krentz was a peaceable man who bore no one ill will, including the illegals who regularly crossed his property. He even sympathized with their desire to get a new start in the Land of Opportunity. As he once told an interviewer, "If they come and ask for water, I'll still give them water. You know, that's just my nature." Only if the trespasser looked as if he needed help might the rancher call the Border Patrol. His was the code of any people who live in a desert climate, where hospitality isn't just a gesture but a necessity. When some lost soul comes wandering into your tent, he is your responsibility. See the Book of Genesis. Rob Krentz was trying to help a stranger one Saturday morning, March 27, when he radioed his brother Phil. "I see an immigrant out here and he appears to need help," he said. "Call the Border Patrol." That would be his last transmission. They found his body just before midnight. He'd been shot but managed to drive away before losing consciousness, and his life. Nothing had been taken from him, his gun was still in its holster. His dog was dead, too. The old-time ranchman was just the latest, if one of the more prominent, victims of the violence that is spreading like an oil stain all along the border. Many of us have resisted calling for the National Guard to guard the border; the armed forces of the United States already have a couple of wars on their hands. But there comes a time when only a show of force, and more than just a show of it, will do. It's time to protect our people at last. And mobilize our own federales. Call it a memorial to Rob Krentz. And the way of life he stood for...more