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Immigrant Soldier Killed In Iraq Is Laid To Rest In Clearwater

Tribune photo by JAY CONNER

Brigadier General Michael Harrison of Fort Drum, New York presented the folded American flag to Arturo Huerta-Cruz's parents, Pascual Huerta, left, and Carmen Huerta.

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 23, 2008

CLEARWATER - Under a cloudless sky, with towering oak trees overhead rustling slightly with the last cool breezes of spring, Spc. Arturo Huerta-Cruz was given a military graveside service Tuesday before his coffin was lowered into the ground.

About 100 people came to the ceremony at Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Most were Mexicans who, like the 23-year-old soldier, had emigrated from the Mexican state of Hidalgo to Clearwater, said Robin Gomez, Clearwater's Hispanic-Latino liaison.

A 21-gun salute briefly shattered the monotonous drone of traffic and construction noise nearby on U.S. 19. As taps sounded from a trumpet, a baby started wailing. The woman holding the child at the service rocked the infant into silence, however brief.

There were no remembrances for Huerta-Cruz, who was killed April 14 when a roadside bomb exploded while he was on patrol in a vehicle near Tuz, about 100 miles north of Baghdad.

Family members spent much of the past eight days sharing reminiscences among themselves. A memorial Mass was held Monday at St. Cecilia Church in Clearwater.

At Tuesday's ceremony, the Rev. Gilberto Quintero of St. Cecilia led the mostly Spanish-speaking crowd in a string of Catholic prayers in Spanish. With their heads bowed, their responses were barely audible above the gurgling sounds of a cemetery fountain a dozen or so yards from the grave.

Parents Receive Son's Honors

Then Huerta-Cruz's mother and father were given the military awards their son had won - the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Badge and the Order of the Dragon, one of the highest honors bestowed on a member of the Chemical Corps. Huerta-Cruz was a specialist in the corps.

He was assigned to the 10th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, in October 2006, Army officials have said. The highest-ranking member of the Army at the graveside service was Brig. Gen. Michael Harrison of the 10th Mountain Division.

Before making the trip from Fort Drum, N.Y., Harrison read through the testimonials of Huerta-Cruz's unit. "Everyone loved him," Harrison said after the service. "The common word I heard and read in passages was integrity."

Huerta-Cruz moved to the United States from a small town in Hidalgo called Remedios when he was 7. U.S. Embassy officials - making sure relatives could attend the service - drove more than 100 miles to the village to pick up his grandmother and grandfather, said U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, who attended the ceremony.

Something To Fulfill

Wendy Secundino, 19, attended the service. Afterward, she recalled the days when her and Huerta-Cruz's mothers used to carpool in Clearwater while she and Huerta-Cruz were attending schools there. He graduated from Countryside High School and attended St. Petersburg College, but decided to join the Army because "he said he needed something to fulfill."

He didn't tell his parents about it, Secundino said, until a week before his departure to boot camp.

"He said, 'Hey, I'm going to Iraq,'" she said.

Huerta-Cruz was not a U.S. citizen, but rather a permanent resident alien. He was the second Bay area resident who wasn't a U.S. citizen to die in action in Iraq. Marine Lance Cpl. Kevin Waruinge, a 22-year-old Kenyan immigrant, was killed Aug. 3, 2005, when a bomb hit his vehicle near Haditha.

In Clearwater, Huerta-Cruz has his own distinction. He is believed to be the only one from the city's Mexican population who was on active duty and serving his country in the war in Iraq, said Gomez.

Tampa Tribune reporter Josh Poltilove and reporter Yolanda Fernandez of WFLA News Channel 8 contributed to this report. Information from Tribune archives was also used. Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com

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