A community came together to surprise Kathryn Steffen and Carlos Pongo after they lost their son, Marine gunnery Sgt. Diego Pongo, while he was serving in Iraq on March 8.
To commemorate their son’s legacy, the parents posted online about their son’s death. But soon, the post went viral, and words of remembrance quickly turned into thousands of people paying respects in Simi Valley.
“Oh my goodness,” Steffen
said in disbelief. “We’re totally overwhelmed … we had no idea this was going
on.”
Sgt. Pongo was part of “Operation Inherent Resolve” in Iraq, a military operation to intervene in the affairs of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS) and the campaign in Syria. As a part of the 2nd Marine Raider Batallion, Pongo’s specific mission was to eliminate an ISIS stronghold.
After Sgt. Pongo died, his
family wanted to hold a funeral, but the COVID-19 social distance requirements
made that impossible.
“It’s been a really hard
week for the
family in grief and I just thought there’s gotta be something we can
do,” said Andrea Pongo, Sgt. Pongo’s
sister-in-law.
Now, with a community-supported parade, the family can officially honor the soldier’s sacrifice.
“People keep reaching out
to us showing us
their support and how much they want to be there for us,” said Andres Pongo,
who was Sgt. Pongo’s brother.
The family had tears streaming
down their faces as a parade drove by the Pongo family home on Katherine road,
giving a final salute to the fallen hero.
“Thank you for coming–thank you very much,” cried Sgt. Pongo’s father, Carlos. “We miss our son so much.”
Source: NBC Los Angeles
Be First to Comment