By Jeremy Walsh
Few words were spoken during the funeral mass and burial of a South Ozone Park soldier killed last month by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, but the emotions were palpable.
Tears flowed freely as about 150 friends and family members gathered at St. Leo’s Church in Corona Friday morning to mourn Staff Sgt. Luis Gonzalez, 27.
Gonzalez and six other soldiers died Oct. 27 in the Arghandab Valley region of Afghanistan when the vehicle they were traveling in was hit by an improvised explosive device, the U.S. Department of Defense said.
Gonzalez was raised in Corona, where his parents still live, said the Rev. Diego Villegas, who officiated Mass. Villegas said he had few memories of Gonzalez, but clergymen there said the young soldier had undergone his confirmation at the parish when he was 11.
Gonzalez’s mother, Bienvenida, previously said in published reports that her son loved the U.S. Army and wrote to her frequently. She and Gonzalez’s father, Angel, were inconsolable during the services. No family members spoke during either the mass or the burial, though many got up and kissed Gonzalez’s casket before it was lowered into the ground.
Gonzalez, an alumnus of John Bowne High School in Flushing, was a Green Beret who had served two tours of duty in Iraq and whose commendations for service included the Bronze Star, according to Borough President Helen Marshall. He left behind a wife, Jessica, and a 6-month-old son, Isaiah.
“There are no words we can say to take away the pain and sorrow of separation,” said Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros, who attended the service for the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens. “But the presence of family and friends are more important than words.”
Another Queens serviceman was set to be remembered this week as the nation honors its fallen veterans. In Manhattan, the Haitian Veterans Association was scheduled Wednesday to honor fallen Marine Leopold Damas, a Hollis resident who was killed in Afghanistan in August.
The wreath-laying was scheduled to occur during the Eternal Light ceremony following the Veterans Day Parade along Fifth Avenue.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
