CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 After more than eight decades, a fallen World War II sailor from Concepcion, Texas has finally returned home.<\/p>\n
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Michelle Hofmann, KRIS 6 News<\/p>\n
Seaman Roberto Stillman Garcia, who was killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, will be laid to rest with full military honors on Tuesday, October 21 at the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery in Corpus Christi. The ceremony starts at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n
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Roberto Stillman Garcia<\/p>\n
He died aboard the USS California, one of the battleships targeted during the surprise assault.<\/p>\n
Garcia\u2019s remains had gone unidentified for more than 80 years, until they were recently confirmed through advanced forensic technology and DNA testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a miracle,\u201d said Nickie Valdez, Garcia\u2019s niece. \u201cEighty-four years. When he touched the ground in Texas, my dream became a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
See the original story by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n Michelle Hofmann, KRIS 6 News<\/p>\n A Hero\u2019s Homecoming<\/p>\n Garcia\u2019s journey home began in Hawaii, where his great-great-niece, U.S. Navy Lt. Allison Ledesma, serves on active duty at Pearl Harbor. Ledesma, who never met Garcia, was chosen to escort his remains to Texas.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m the only active duty person in our family,\u201d Ledesma said. \u201cThe stars really aligned for me to be able to be the one to honor him by bringing him home.\u201d<\/p>\n Michelle Hofmann, KRIS 6 News<\/p>\n A solemn ceremony on the tarmac of the San Antonio International Airport included other members of the U.S. Navy and water canons marking Garcia\u2019s arrival to Texas on Friday. Family members, including Valdez, were able to watch through tears as his casket was received.<\/p>\n \u201cI said I wasn\u2019t going to cry, but how could I not?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n From there, a motorcade carried Garcia\u2019s remains to Corpus Christi, a procession flanked by fellow veterans and service-members who lined the route to Seaside Memorial Park and Funeral Home to pay their respects.<\/p>\n Fallen World War II sailor from the Coastal Bend has finally returned home<\/p>\n A Long-Awaited Closure<\/p>\n Garcia was among 2,403 Americans killed during the Pearl Harbor attack. For decades, his family held onto hope that one day he would return.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to have hope, and we should never give up,\u201d Valdez said. \u201cMy grandmother said he would be back. She didn\u2019t live to see it, but now it\u2019s my generation that gets to witness it.\u201d<\/p>\n Garcia\u2019s burial will mark the end of a chapter, but his family says his legacy will endure, not only in their hearts but also in future generations who serve.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of our service members paid the ultimate sacrifice,\u201d said Ledesma. \u201cIt is our duty and responsibility to honor those who gave everything in defense of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n More Veterans In Focus stories are available here,<\/a> along with resources<\/a> for local veterans. <\/p>\n Contact Veterans In Focus reporter Michelle Hofmann at michelle.lorenzo@kristv.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 After more than eight decades, a fallen World War II sailor from Concepcion, Texas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156,3996,2672,11536,3435],"class_list":["post-14014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news","tag-hero","tag-military","tag-pearl-harbor","tag-veteran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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