Local Hero Honored On Father's Day

City Councilmember Hiram Monserrate (third from 1.) joined with members of Army Spc. Marlon Bustamante's family to rename the corner of 47th Avenue and 104th Street in Corona as Marlon A. Bustamante Place to honor Bustamante's memory. Bustamante died in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee on Feb. 1, 2006.

City Councilmember Hiram Monserrate on Sunday, June 18 joined with family, clergy and community leaders to rename the corner of 47th Avenue and 104th Street in Corona as Marlon A. Bustamante Place.

A decorated soldier, Army Spc. Marlon Bustamante at age

25 fell victim to a roadside bomb that exploded near his Humvee in Eastern Baghdad on February 1. He was on his second tour of duty with the 101st Airborne Division's 502nd Infantry regiment based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and had expected to return home in April. During his

service, he received the Army Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Bustamante, a Colombian native born on January 1, 1981, moved with his family to the United States when he was a year old and grew up in Corona. After graduating from Flushing H. S., he joined the Army in 2003 after the beginning of the war in Iraq. He hoped his enlisting would help him fulfill his ultimate dream of joining the New York City Police Department. He is survived by his mother, two brothers and his wife of two years, Danielle, a former Army nurse, and their three children, twin two-year-old boys, Gabriel and Xavier, and a five-month-old daughter, Analyse. His mother still lives in Corona.

"Army Spc. Marlon Bustamante was a father, a son, a brother and a hero to us all," Monserrate said. "Today 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 are now a permanent part of our community. This sign is a small token of our respect and undying appreciation for Marlon Bustamante and his family."

Monserrate, a former Marine and chairman of the council Veterans Committee, introduced legislation in the council to add the soldier's name to the Corona street where he grew up.