Carrollton is preparing to honor one of its local heroes. Two public memorial events are scheduled to pay tribute to Army Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, a 19-year-old native of Carrollton and a graduate of Hebron High School. She was tragically killed earlier this month in an Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Jordan.<\/p>\n
The events will take place on Saturday, August 1, and will include a motorcycle honor ride followed by a vigil at a church in North Texas.<\/p>\n
The day will begin with an honor ride<\/a> kicking off with \u201ckickstands up\u201d at 11 a.m. at Maverick Harley-Davidson on N. I-35E, where riders \u2014 expected to include veterans, active service members \u2014 will gather before setting out together in Gonzales\u2019 memory.<\/p>\n The ride will be followed that afternoon by a memorial service at 6 p.m. at Prestonwood Baptist Church. The memorial service will also be livestreamed via Prestonwood Baptist Church\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n The two tributes are the latest chapter in a difficult period of mourning for the community. Gonzales, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment in Ansbach, Germany, was killed July 17 in an enemy strike at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base. As The Dallas Express<\/a> previously reported, Gonzales was one of two American soldiers killed in the attack, alongside 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii, with family notification completed before the Pentagon\u2019s public release.<\/p>\n In the days since, Carrollton has repeatedly turned out to honor her memory. At a City Council meeting shortly after her death was confirmed, Mayor Steve Babick, council members and residents gathered for a tribute that ended with a bugler playing \u201cTaps.\u201d Babick told the room that Gonzales couldn\u2019t have known when she enlisted that she\u2019d become a hero through her death, but that \u201cshe answered the call.\u201d<\/p>\n Councilwoman Daisy Palomo also offered condolences to the Gonzales family, while American Legion Post 597 commander John Norsworthy \u2014 who lives less than a quarter mile from the family and whose son attended Hebron High School alongside Gonzales \u2014 spoke about why her loss has hit the city so hard.<\/p>\n In the Gonzales family\u2019s own neighborhood, a homemade memorial has sprung up along a backyard fence, where neighbors have hung dozens of American flags beneath a hand-painted banner reading a tribute to her sacrifice.<\/p>\n