Fernando Tamayo has funeral services ahead of cremation

FONTANA - Two hours before the sun rose Tuesday, Mario Tamayo Sr. pushed himself out of bed. He had to ready himself for something every parent loathes and fears: his son's funeral.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Fernando S. Tamayo, 19, was killed Dec. 21 when a roadside bomb exploded next to the Humvee he drove in Iraq.

"I tell people our pain is too deep because we lost something bigger than we can take," Tamayo Sr. said.

Since learning of their son's death just hours before they were to watch another son's wedding ceremony in Mexico, the Tamayos have sought to survive this ordeal. Family and friends have rallied around them. Neighbors drop off piles of food. The Marines call to offer help.

The Tamayos find solace in kind words, the hero-like treatment their son received from the military and law enforcement personnel after his death, and knowing that their boy died doing what he craved - serving his country.

"I know our family will never be the same," said Fernando's sister, Adriana Zamayoa, 33. "But I know by keeping his memory alive, we will be better people for our community, for our children, for our nephews and our nieces."

The Tamayo home is full of memories. Tamayo Sr.'s favorite place to eat - a center island in the kitchen - has been transformed into a shrine of pictures, Fernando's baby bib and his white baptism outfit that his parents kept for when he had his own child.
Photos adorn almost every wall. Military memorabilia fills his bedroom, and camouflaged netting covers a window. A photocopy of his final letter to his girlfriend rests in a china cabinet. Atop that is a Father's Day card he made at age 7.

On Tuesday morning, family members filled the home. Fernando's mother, Martha, stayed upstairs getting dressed in black. Tamayo Sr. watered plants out front.

He contemplated what awaited his family before the 2 p.m. funeral at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Covina.

"It's the last time we can see his body," Tamayo Sr. lamented.

Zamayoa added, "It's the last time to say goodbye."

The Tamayos are thankful that their son's body was at least able to be viewed in an open casket.

The other three Marines who died in the same attack were less fortunate, Tamayo Sr. said.

Tamayo Sr. thought for a moment, and then shared a recent discussion he had with his wife. His eyes glistened as he spoke.

"We say to God, `Thank you for letting us be parents to Fernando,"' he said.

Tamayo Sr. doesn't know where these coming weeks will take his family. He and his wife need each other greatly. On this morning, she wept often, and at one point, sat and sobbed as her husband held her shuddering body.

He knows he has to return to his hometown in Mexico, a village of 6,000 people near Guadalajara. Tamayo Sr. and his wife left their sport utility vehicle there, having flown out on the first flight once they heard that men in military uniforms kept knocking on their front door.

The main task in the next few days will be to return to the mortuary and take their son home. The family decided to cremate Fernando because they have no real ties to the area, and if they move, burying him here would seem like abandoning him.

The Tamayos plan to find the proper place for their son. For now, though, they just aren't ready to let him go.

From the Bulletin

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