Former Marine Organizes Touching Texas Vigil Honoring 13 Fallen Servicemembers

The community of Amarillo, Texas, organized a touching vigil at the Texas Panhandle War Memorial to honor the fallen servicemembers who died last week amidst President Biden’s disorganized withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The memorial was organized by former Marine Alexia Rodriguez, who had been stationed with fallen Marine Seargent Johanny Rosario, one of the casualties of last week’s suicide bombing at the Kabul airport. “One of the connections I have is I served with one of the women who was killed in action,” Rosario recalled. “We were both stationed in Okinawa.”

The vigil took place at the Texas Panhandle War Memorial. The memorial was sprinkled with flowers, candles, and combat boots, as well as photographs of the 13 fallen. Vigil-goers laid down posters that identified the names of the soldiers in each corresponding image. 

After a color presentation, attendees engaged in prayer and listened to a rendition of “Taps” to commemorate the brave souls lost. 

Rodriguez recounted the atmosphere at the vigil. “It was really overwhelming with the support, it was amazing to pay my respects,” The former Marine and event organizer would go on to say, “This war has been the 13 fallen heroes’ entire life, that is the only war that they have ever known, and the fact that they were willing to give their lives…because freedom is not free.”

Mary Nell Lemert, a member of the board of the Texas Panhandle War Memorial, said, “The support for the soldiers, honoring and remembering the 13 that had been killed, this is what we’ve been working to do for the past eight years, which is to honor veterans, and show them how much we care.”