Joe Narvaez laid to rest

SAN ANTONIO -- Hundreds of people offered their final farewells Friday to a 25-year-old soldier who was killed in Iraq.

Family and friends crowded San Martin de Porres Catholic Church to remember the life of Staff Sgt. Joe Anthony Narvaez, who died on Oct. 2.

Also paying tribute to the John F. Kennedy High School graduate were more than 200 students from Gardendale Elementary School, a campus that the soldier never attended.

The students, armed with small American flags, lined the sidewalk in front of their school as the hearse drove by.

The tribute was an idea thought of by a mother of one of the school's teachers.

"When my mom heard the story, we felt we needed to do something," said Teresa Gonzalez, a Gardendale Elementary teacher. "Just to show our appreciation and our gratitude for his sacrifice, and also to share our sympathy with the family."

Lilly Gatich, a friend of the Narvaez family, said that the school's tribute was thoughtful.

"(It's) something that Joey, if he's looking down, he'd be really proud of," said Gatich.

Narvaez was laid to rest with full military honors at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

From KSAT 12

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