Jonathan Rojas laid to rest

He was born in Mexico. He died for America. And at his funeral in Hammond on Friday, Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan Rojas was mourned by people from both countries, praying together in Spanish and English, hands held, in tears.

A 1997 graduate of Hammond High School, Rojas was killed by an enemy sniper in Baghdad on Oct. 3. Ten days later, Rojas, the 66th Indiana soldier killed in Iraq since the conflict began, was buried.

This wasn't how Jonathan Rojas was supposed to come home.

At the Friday morning funeral at Hammond's All Saints Church, friends and family, war veterans and complete strangers, came together to pay tribute to "a great son," "a great brother," "a role model" and "a hero."

There were mothers holding infant children. Officers in uniform bestowing respect. And there were members of the Rojas family, and a number of women, dabbing their moist eyes with crumpled pieces of tissue paper.

The Rev. Steve Gibson, who conducted the service primarily in Spanish, compared Rojas' sacrifice for peace to the suffering that Jesus Christ endured.

Rojas' sister, Isaura, told how close her family was and how they would often come together for Sunday meals. She recalled how the pair would make jokes at the dinner table, often to their mother's disdain, and how Jonathan loved her cooking, even though peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were his favorite. Between tears, Isaura said she wished the whole family could enjoy a Sunday dinner with Jonathan again.

At the Mass' end, the coffin was blessed with holy water in the church's entryway, the beads glistening in the sunlight, as bagpipes bellowed proudly, sobs echoed solemnly, and dead leaves scraped the pavement outside, dragged along in the breeze. Then Rojas' grieving mother, clutching a white rose, her husband consoling her by her side, unleashed a painful wail as she blessed her son's casket with holy water, rivets of tears flowing from her eyes.

At the cemetery, Capt. John Pitt, a casualty assistance officer who served as a liaison between the Rojas family and the military, said Rojas paid the ultimate sacrifice.

"You can't ask for more from a countryman," Pitt said. "He's a hero. He put himself in harm's way for the people of this nation."

Family friend Aurora Aguilar called Rojas' death "a terrible loss," expressing fear that her son, Army Reservist Juan Aguilar, would be called into action and receive the same fate.

The funeral motorcade from All Saints Church to Memory Lane Cemetery in Schererville stretched farther than the eye could see. The hearse and limousines carrying the family led the procession down Calumet Avenue and along U.S. 30, as war veterans riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles brought up the rear, waving large American flags in the wind.

Hundreds of Hammond children stood outside their schools, waving flags and brandishing banners that read "We Will Miss You Jonathan Rojas" and "You are in our Hearts."

The Hammond Fire Department stood in salute in front of its own memorial, while an elderly man stuck in traffic got out of his car to watch the cars go by, a teardrop shining on his cheek.

The hour-long procession concluded at the Schererville cemetery as cars drove underneath an American flag hoisted from a crane by the Hammond Fire Department.

Prayers were uttered. The casket was blessed again. Three rounds were fired into the air in commemoration, their deafening bangs crackling amid the serene grounds.

White doves were released, soaring through the air above the grave site. The cries from the Rojas family members and other mourners grew louder and more pained.

Men and women alike dried their eyes as they passed by Rojas' coffin and consoled his family.

And then Rojas' body was lowered into the ground. Mourners released white roses into the grave. Rojas' wife, Tasha, kissed the last white rose, and with full-bodied sobs, dropped it into the grave of her fallen husband.

This wasn't how Jonathan Rojas was supposed to come home.

From the Gary Post Tribune

Related Link:
Jonathan Rojas slain by sniper