Iraq War Medic From El Paso Laid To Rest

EL PASO, TX. – The body of an El Paso soldier killed in Afghanistan is back in El Paso.

Army medic Hugo Mendoza was killed tending to a wounded soldier on the battlefield in late October. “We’re very happy that his wishes are being met. He wanted to be back home, this is where home was for him,” said Carlos Mendoza, Hugo’s brother.

Mendoza, a native El Pasoan, lived in Phoenix for several years before being deployed to Afghanistan. On Tuesday, dozens of friends and family gathered at Mount Carmel Funeral Home to pay tribute to aman who died trying to save another soldier from enemy fire.

“There’s people out there that always talk about ‘I’ll give my life for someone,’ but very few do it,” Carlos added. The family says Hugo Mendoza joined the military, and became a medic so that he would have the skills he needed to become a firefighter when he left the Army.

His family said it’s been hard, but they’ve started to come to peace with their homegrown hero’s death. “We got quiet and the birds starting singing even louder, we went outside to find this bird. It was a message from him saying that he isokay and is in a better place,” Hugo’s brother said.

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Written for broadcast by Ken Molestina

Edited for KVIA.com by Miguel Martinez