Corona Army Sergeant Killed In Iraq
 

Soldiers prepare to fold the flag that served as a funeral pall for the coffin of Sergeant Jose Gomez of Corona. The folded flag was presented to Gomez' mother after his funeral at St. Michael's Cemetery in East Elmhurst May 10.

An improvised roadside bomb in Baghdad killed Army Sergeant Jose Gomez, 23, a Corona resident, on April 28. Gomez would have completed his second tour of duty in Iraq within a month and was expected home in June. He was planning on marrying his fiance, Marie Canario, 21, of Mastic, Long Island. Gomez lost his first fiance in Iraq in 2003, when Private Analaura Esparza-Gutierrez died on duty with the U.S. Army in Tikrit.

Gomez had not informed his mother of his redeployment to Iraq. She believed he was at Fort Hood, Texas, so his death came as a shock to his family. Gomez had volunteered to serve although not a citizen.

Representing the Army at St. Michael's Cemetery, East Elmhurst, where Gomez was interred on May 10, Gen. Bill Grisoli read a message that explained that Gomez moved his Humvee forward to protect another vehicle hit by a roadside bomb. Gomez was presented posthumously with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

An Army funeral detail fires off a 21-gun salute to Army Sergeant Jose Gomez who was killed in Iraq a month before his second tour of duty was due to end. Gomez was buried in St. Michel's Cemetery, East Elmhurst.

A possible anti-war protest at the ceremony was forestalled by police assigned to protect both mourners and potential protesters. A group of veterans who are bikers each carried an American flag.