Body of Army Spec. Alex Jimenez, killed in Iraq, finally returns to Queens

New York Daily News - New York, NY - USA

Body of Army Spec. Alex Jimenez, killed in Iraq, finally returns to Queens
BY ROBERT ERIKSON and OREN YANIV
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Thursday, July 31st 2008, 8:55 PM

More than a year after his capture in Iraq, a hearse bearing the remains of Army Spec. Alex Jimenez paused outside his mother's house in Queens Thursday.

"We all wanted him to come home, just not in a casket," said Jimenez's cousin, Kelyn Bernabe, 21.

At Maria del Rosario Duran's home on 37th Drive, an American flag, a Dominican flag and a black prisoner-of-war flag flew in the warm breeze.

"It was a 14-month struggle trying to get information. It hurts to only get the horrible news that Alex was gone," Duran said.

Some 70 relatives and friends then tearfully followed the hearse to the Rivera Funeral Home, many wearing black T-shirts with the slogan "Climb to Glory."

"This is a time to mourn as a community," said City Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona). "It is a very sad homecoming."

Jimenez, 25, was aboard a Humvee when his unit was ambushed May 12 last year in Iraq. Insurgents killed five soldiers and captured Jimenez and two others. Duran had clung to the hope her oldest son would return alive. She stayed in constant communication with military officials and became close to other mothers who lost sons in the war.

On July 10, she received the worst possible news. Her son's body had been recovered.

"The loss of a son is never easy, especially one who's so good," Duran said.

A wake will be held Friday. A funeral Mass will be offered at 9 a.m. Saturday at Our Lady of Sorrows Church on 37th St. in Corona, followed by burial at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale.