thedrifter
04-26-06, 07:37 PM
Ceres Marine given loving send-off at Lakewood
Ceres Courier, CA
Hundreds who stood at the graveside service of Marine Lance Cpl. Juana Navarro didn't know her. But they felt compelled to show up to pay their respects Wednesday afternoon to the Ceres woman who loved her country enough to die for it.
Navarro, 24, was shot and killed in the Anbar province of Iraq on April 8 as she guarded fellow Marines approximately 300 meters behind a vehicle. Navarro had been attached to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group.
Marine pallbearers carried the flag-draped casket from the hearse as numerous veterans of other wars solemnly watched family members file behind to a shaded canopy. In Marine dress uniform, Juana's brothers, Lorenzo Navarro and Raul Navarro, anchored their distraught mother, Euelia Navarro of Ceres, during the ceremony. Also present were her twin, Maria Navarro, and two other sisters, Beatriz Lopez of Modesto and Maira Navarro of Ceres. Standing with the family was Armando Bernal, who became friends with Juana during her two years in Johansen High's PALS program.
David Phinney, Navarro's Marine company commander during her station in Okinawa, Japan, praised Navarro as a confident, mature woman who was as giving and soft-hearted as she was tough.
“In the past week, my Marines have talked to me about a time they were sad, lonely or having a bad day,” said Phinney. “When ‘J' came around, it made things much better for them. She was a daughter, a sister, a friend, and she touched the hearts of many. She was also a U.S. Marine.”
Phinney said Navarro graduated from boot camp with the Company Ironwoman distinction. He said she didn't want to be treated like a female Marine but “just a Marine.” She was fiercely respected, he said.
He said Navarro did not hesitate to sign up for security detail and was happy to be doing her job in Iraq.
“In my heart I won't be remembering her as just another tragedy in Iraq and the way she died but how she lived,” said Phinney. “I'll remember her as a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.”
Juana Arianna Navarro was a native of Michoacán, Mexico, and moved with her mother to Arvin in Kern County as an infant. She had lived in Empire from 1983 to 2001. She graduated from Johansen High School in 2000. She was a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Modesto.
In 2001 the family had a chance to get into a larger and better house through the Habitat for Humanity program. Juana took charge of the building project on Sequoia Avenue in Ceres.
The following year Juana signed up for the Marines after watching both brothers enlist. In October 2002 she started an electrician course at the Treasure Island Job Corps Center. Her instructor called her Mushu, after the tiny dragon in the Disney animated feature “Mulan.” The name seemed to fit as Navarro was just 5-foot-2 but full of spirit and determination.
She joined the Marines after her brothers joined. Initially Navarro was stationed in Okinawa, but her specialization as a bulk fuel specialist called for her to be assigned to Iraq. She left for Iraq in February. One of the last things she told members of her tight-knit family was, “Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'm coming back.”
She is survived by her parents, Euelia Navarro of Ceres and Raul Navarro of Mexico; brothers, Raul Navarro and Lorenzo Navarro, both of Ceres; sisters, Maria Navarro and Maira Navarro, both of Ceres, and Beatriz Lopez of Modesto; and grandparents, Lorenzo Arellano, Otilia Cardenas, Raul Navarro and Raquel Navarro, all of Mexico.
The Pentagon said Navarro was the third female Marine killed in Iraq since the war began over three years ago. Fifty-two of the 2,361 U.S. troops killed in Iraq have been women.
Ceres was represented at the funeral by Mayor Anthony Cannella, City Manager Brad Kilger and Chief of Police Art deWerk. Ceres firefighters helped drape a large American flag high above the entrance to the Hughson area cemetery to pay homage to the corporal.
DeWerk said the community of Ceres rallied around the Navarro family in extraordinary ways. - By JEFF BENZIGER / Managing editor of the Ceres (Calif.) Courier
Ellie
Ceres Courier, CA
Hundreds who stood at the graveside service of Marine Lance Cpl. Juana Navarro didn't know her. But they felt compelled to show up to pay their respects Wednesday afternoon to the Ceres woman who loved her country enough to die for it.
Navarro, 24, was shot and killed in the Anbar province of Iraq on April 8 as she guarded fellow Marines approximately 300 meters behind a vehicle. Navarro had been attached to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group.
Marine pallbearers carried the flag-draped casket from the hearse as numerous veterans of other wars solemnly watched family members file behind to a shaded canopy. In Marine dress uniform, Juana's brothers, Lorenzo Navarro and Raul Navarro, anchored their distraught mother, Euelia Navarro of Ceres, during the ceremony. Also present were her twin, Maria Navarro, and two other sisters, Beatriz Lopez of Modesto and Maira Navarro of Ceres. Standing with the family was Armando Bernal, who became friends with Juana during her two years in Johansen High's PALS program.
David Phinney, Navarro's Marine company commander during her station in Okinawa, Japan, praised Navarro as a confident, mature woman who was as giving and soft-hearted as she was tough.
“In the past week, my Marines have talked to me about a time they were sad, lonely or having a bad day,” said Phinney. “When ‘J' came around, it made things much better for them. She was a daughter, a sister, a friend, and she touched the hearts of many. She was also a U.S. Marine.”
Phinney said Navarro graduated from boot camp with the Company Ironwoman distinction. He said she didn't want to be treated like a female Marine but “just a Marine.” She was fiercely respected, he said.
He said Navarro did not hesitate to sign up for security detail and was happy to be doing her job in Iraq.
“In my heart I won't be remembering her as just another tragedy in Iraq and the way she died but how she lived,” said Phinney. “I'll remember her as a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.”
Juana Arianna Navarro was a native of Michoacán, Mexico, and moved with her mother to Arvin in Kern County as an infant. She had lived in Empire from 1983 to 2001. She graduated from Johansen High School in 2000. She was a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Modesto.
In 2001 the family had a chance to get into a larger and better house through the Habitat for Humanity program. Juana took charge of the building project on Sequoia Avenue in Ceres.
The following year Juana signed up for the Marines after watching both brothers enlist. In October 2002 she started an electrician course at the Treasure Island Job Corps Center. Her instructor called her Mushu, after the tiny dragon in the Disney animated feature “Mulan.” The name seemed to fit as Navarro was just 5-foot-2 but full of spirit and determination.
She joined the Marines after her brothers joined. Initially Navarro was stationed in Okinawa, but her specialization as a bulk fuel specialist called for her to be assigned to Iraq. She left for Iraq in February. One of the last things she told members of her tight-knit family was, “Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'm coming back.”
She is survived by her parents, Euelia Navarro of Ceres and Raul Navarro of Mexico; brothers, Raul Navarro and Lorenzo Navarro, both of Ceres; sisters, Maria Navarro and Maira Navarro, both of Ceres, and Beatriz Lopez of Modesto; and grandparents, Lorenzo Arellano, Otilia Cardenas, Raul Navarro and Raquel Navarro, all of Mexico.
The Pentagon said Navarro was the third female Marine killed in Iraq since the war began over three years ago. Fifty-two of the 2,361 U.S. troops killed in Iraq have been women.
Ceres was represented at the funeral by Mayor Anthony Cannella, City Manager Brad Kilger and Chief of Police Art deWerk. Ceres firefighters helped drape a large American flag high above the entrance to the Hughson area cemetery to pay homage to the corporal.
DeWerk said the community of Ceres rallied around the Navarro family in extraordinary ways. - By JEFF BENZIGER / Managing editor of the Ceres (Calif.) Courier
Ellie