Army Specialist Jaime Rodriguez Jr., 1987-2007
A Soldier Comes Home
When the Kalitta Charters airplane carrying the body of U.S. Army Specialist Jaime Rodriguez Jr. landed at Santa Barbara Airport just before 2 p.m. on Thursday, August 2, the jet also brought home what the South Coast had avoided for more than four years-a young soldier killed in Iraq. The 19-year-old Rodriguez died July 26 when an Improvised Explosive Device detonated near his vehicle in Saqlawiyah, a city just northwest of Fallujah in Anbar province. Sgt. William R. Howdeshell, 37, of Norfolk, Virginia, and Spc. Charles E. Bilbrey Jr., 21, of Oswego, New York, from his unit also died from the blast.
About 50 members of Rodriguez’s family were at the airport. The charter plane touched down, taxied to Mercury Air Center, and came to a stop not far from the waiting group of mourners. As the brown wooden casket draped with an American flag was lowered, the plane’s two pilots, a soldier wearing the distinctive Army-green uniform, and six members of the Honor Guard all saluted. The only noise that could be heard was the buzzing of a nearby plane as the Honor Guard members, dressed in dark blue uniforms and white gloves, slowly carried the casket away from the plane.
The scene was solemn and tragic. Members of the Mercury Air Center staff stood on the tarmac for the ceremony while three men who had just arrived in a private plane stood respectfully outside their aircraft. Rodriguez’s mother, Dulce Soto, and her youngest son, Alex, walked hand-in-hand to the casket, followed by tearful family members, many of whom were wearing photos of Rodriguez tied on strings around their necks. After the family had spent a few moments at the casket, the Honor Guard carried it to the hearse that was waiting to take it to Welch-Ryce-Haider Funeral Chapel, where there would be a visitation later in the day, followed by a vigil that night at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Carpinteria. After closing the door to the hearse, his cousin, Jahir Garcia, a U.S. Marine in full-dress uniform, saluted Rodriguez, then put his fist to his mouth and walked away crying.
