Saturday, July 26, 2008

Staff Sgt. Jimenez comes home for funeral



(NECN: Lawrence, Mass.) 7-25-08 - Groups of people lined the roads of Lawrence, Massachusetts Friday morning in a solemn tribute to a serviceman from the city as he came home for the final time.

The body of Staff Sgt. Alex Jimenez was brought to Lawrence by a motorcade to St. Mary's of the Assumption Parish, where friends, strangers and neighbors looked on as an honor guard carried Jimenez's flag-draped coffin into the church.

Some onlookers waved American flags as the coffin was carried into the church, followed by a large group of family and friends. Large crowds are expected for Jimenez's public wake from 4pm to 8pm at St. Mary's of the Assumption. A funeral mass will be held at the church Saturday morning at 11am.

Jimenez will be buried on Long Island after a service there next weekend.


LAWRENCE, Mass. (AP) — A procession of veterans on motorcycles and state police in their cruisers blocked parts of two interstates Friday as it finally brought home the body of an Army staff sergeant who was missing for months after being seized by insurgents in Iraq.

A hearse bearing the remains of 25-year-old Alex Jimenez came to a halt in front of his father's house in Lawrence, the scene of a 14-month vigil as the family awaited word of his fate. A memorial shrine with floral arrangements and half-burned votive candles was on the sidewalk.

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