Alamo soldier's body returns to Valley

SAN JUAN — The body of the Alamo soldier killed in Afghanistan last week is set to return to the Rio Grande Valley Saturday, with visitation and funeral services set for Sunday and Monday, respectively.

U.S. Army Sgt. Fernando “Ferna” De La Rosa’s body is due to arrive at 11 a.m. Saturday at McAllen-Miller International Airport. From there the casket will be taken to Memorial Funeral Home, 311 W. Expressway 83, San Juan, said funeral director Veronica Moreno.

Visitation will be 3-9 p.m. Sunday with a rosary at 7 p.m.

The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Resurrection Catholic Church, 834 E. Citrus Ave., Alamo.

The 24-year-old McAllen native and married father of two boys was killed by a roadside bomb Oct. 27 in the Arghandab Valley in Afghanistan.

He is the third Rio Grande Valley service member to be killed in Afghanistan and the 29th to be killed in the ongoing wars there and in Iraq. De La Rosa is also the second Valley service member to be killed in the past three weeks. Army Staff Sgt. Bradley Espinoza, 26, was killed by an improvised bomb in Iraq on Oct. 19; he was interred last week at the Rio Grande Valley State Veterans Cemetery in Mission.

De La Rosa, a 2003 graduate of Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial High School, was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Division, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, stationed at Fort Lewis, in Tacoma, Wash. Prior to Afghanistan, he had twice been deployed to Iraq.

In addition to his wife and children, he is survived by his mother, Rosa De La Rosa, father, Rolando De La Rosa, and four younger siblings: Rolando, Alfredo, Rogelio and Rayven, all of Alamo. Alfredo is also in the Army and is stationed in Korea.

A total of 4,360 U.S. military personnel have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom since that campaign began in March 2003, according to the latest casualty report from the Pentagon, updated at 9 a.m. Friday. Of those, 3,475 were killed in action.

Another 833 U.S. military personnel have died in and around Afghanistan — including in Pakistan and Uzbekistan — since Operation Enduring Freedom began eight years ago, according to the latest Pentagon count. A total of 640 of those were combat deaths.

____

Nick Pipitone covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.