Corona street renamed for Sgt. Jose Gomez

Less than four months after a roadside bomb killed Corona resident Sergeant Jose Gomez, 23, while he was serving in Iraq, community leaders renamed the corner of 104th Street and 37th Avenue in his honor.
City Councilmember Hiram Monserrate gathered with Gomez's family, representatives from the U.S. Army and community residents on Saturday, August 12, to unveil the new street sign in his honor.
&#8220Army Reserve Sgt. Jose Gomez was a hero to us all,” Councilmember Monserrate said. &#8220Today we join as a community and as a family to honor his life, his work and his sacrifice for his country. His life and memory, and his sacrifice, are now a permanent part of our community. This sign is a small token of our respect and undying appreciation for Jose Gomez and his family.”
Gomez served in the U.S. Army's Fourth Infantry Division and was one of two soldiers killed in the roadside bomb blast in Baghdad on April 28, 2006, while he operated a machine gun on a Humvee. This was Gomez's second tour of duty in Iraq, but not the first time his family experienced tragedy.
Gomez, who enlisted in the army in 2000 in order to earn enough money to finance a college education, lost his fiance and fellow officer, Ana Laura Esparza-Gutierrez to a similar roadside bomb attack.
Gomez is survived by his parents, Felix and Maria Gomez, as well as his older brother, Severino Peralta, of the Dominican Republic. He also left behind his fiance, Marie Carario, who he planned to marry later this year, after he finished his second tour in Iraq.
Monserrate, a former U.S. Marine and Chairman of the Veterans Committee in the City Council, introduced legislation to add the soldier’s name to the Corona street where he grew up. This is the second street renaming in Corona for soldiers who lost their lives serving in Iraq.