Nov 19, 2009 4:26 pm US/Central
2nd Ill. Soldier Killed At Ft. Hood Is Buried
Francheska Velez, 21-Year-Old Mother-To-Be, Recalled As Optimistic, Smiling
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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The flag-draped casket of Pvt. Francheska Velez is carried to its final resting place Thursday Nov. 19, 2009 at Mount Olive Cemetery.
CBS
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Pfc. Francheska Velez, 21, was among the soldiers killed at the massacre at Fort Hood. She was pregnant at the time.
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Pvt. Francheska Velez was killed on the Fort Hood Army base Nov. 5, 2009.
AP
Dozens of American flags lined the outside a Chicago funeral home where a 21-year-old soldier killed at Fort Hood was remembered Thursday as an optimistic person who loved to dance and who had dedicated her life to service.
Hundreds of mourners filled a parlor at Montclair Lucania Funeral Home to pay their respects to Pvt. Francheska Velez, a Humboldt Park native who was slain in the
Nov. 5 attack at the Texas military post. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of murder in the shooting spree.
Many of those at the memorial service wore yellow T-shirts with up-close portraits of a smiling Velez, who had recently returned from deployment in Iraq because she was pregnant. Yellow was her favorite color. Friends and family have said the 2006 Kelvyn Park High School graduate had been excited about starting a family.
"She didn't have a chance to become a mom, to take care of her child," friend Sylvia Velez told CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot. "They took that away from her. It was wrong. Very wrong."
Among the mourners was Gov. Pat Quinn.
"There's a hole in our hearts. We've lost someone very, very special," he told the crowd, speaking with a Spanish translator. "We thank Francheska for her defense of our democracy. We will never forget her sacrifice."
Velez, whose nickname was Cheka, lay in her Army uniform in an open casket that was draped with an American flag. Flower arrangements and photo collages filled the room. The caption on one picture read, "Cheka, you will be missed." At her funeral, Velez's family was presented with the Army Commendation Medal, to recognize the private's time in the military.
Friend Samantha Lozada told Le Mignot she had many favorite memories of Francheska, including "her laugh, her smile, her funny jokes, her always dancing."
Friend Sol Dominguez said Velez had a smile that would light up a room.
"Everybody loves her, and she was a good person with a good heart," he said.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Scott West said Velez's fellow soldiers described her as "happy, upbeat and inspiring."
"Like her biological family, her military family shares in your sorrows," he told the assembled mourners.
Dozens of motorcyclists -- members of the Patriot Guard Riders -- led the funeral procession to Mount Olive Cemetery, where Velez was buried with military honors. She was honored with a 21-shot rifle salute, by the Army Honor Guard. Mourners wailed as a military musician played "Taps" on a bugle. Admirers left yellow flowers at her gravesite.
"I'm deeply saddened by the loss of this great soldier," U.S. Army Major General Scott G. West said. "I'm here to honor her, to honor her service to this nation and certainly to honor her family and her fellow soldiers."
Another Illinois soldier,
22-year-old Pfc. Michael Pearson of Bolingbrook, also died in the Fort Hood attack. He was buried Saturday at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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