by TERRI GRUCA / KVUE News
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kvue.com
Posted on January 26, 2010 at 5:51 PM
Updated
Tuesday, Jan 26 at 6:25 PM
A San Marcos soldier killed in Afghanistan made his final journey home Tuesday.
Army Captain Paul Pena, 27, was killed January 19 by a roadside bomb. His hometown honored him the only way they knew how -- by hanging flags and standing beside the busy highway as his body was brought home.
San Marcos never looked more patriotic.
“What we do today won’t make it any better, but hopefully it shows the family we do care and do appreciate what Captain Pena did,” said San Marcos Fire Chief Les Stephens.
Emergency workers from as far away as Georgetown wanted to make sure Captain Pena’s family knew he would not be forgotten. They hung a flag from two ladder fire trucks, while other emergency workers led a long procession into town.
“This happens a lot. Everyday somewhere in the U.S. someone is affected by the war in Afghanistan and Iraq,” said Howie Minor, San Marcos Fire Department.
However when you lose a soldier in a small town like San Marcos people stop and take notice.
"We’re here to give support to a fellow comrade even though he's with a different unit, we're all brothers at arms," said Martin Monceballez, a New Braunfels resident.
Monceballez serves in the National Guard and his daughter just joined the Air Force.
"I just want people to understand what's going on on the other side of the world. They're giving up their lives," he said.
Captain Pena was a commander with the 82nd Airborne Division. He graduated from West Point and was the only child of a single parent. His mother was so proud. So was everyone in his community.
It is why Tuesday even those who didn’t know him personally stopped everything to honor a hero as he came home for the last time.
"It's just a great loss when you lose somebody like that," said Monceballez.
A memorial service for Captain Pena is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. at the San Marcos Baptist Academy where he graduated.
