El Paso pays tribute to 13 fallen U.S. service members in Afghanistan
EL PASO, Texas-- A trend paying tribute to the 13 U.S. service member lives lost in Afghanistan has gone viral across the country.
From bars to restaurants and even highways, people are coming together to commemorate our troops. The El Paso bar Gringo Theory on Montana Avenue has followed in those footsteps.
They reserved the first front table on Saturday night with a sign that wrote “In honor of our fallen service members” with 13 beers for each member lost.
"People stopped, took pictures, saluted it and the military people that did come in that night, they thanked us for it,” said the owner of Gringo Theory Patio Bar, Colby Shannon. "Our freedoms are very important for us as Americans and it's something that those 13 men put their lives on the line for and it was a tragedy but it's something that we can’t let go unseen or forgotten."
The domino effect continued with local military spouse Jennefer Garcia, who is making efforts to honor the fallen by replicating a display she saw on social media at Camp Lejeune.
The display that she'd like to put at Fort Bliss will be a military boot with a flower and flag inside of it, along with a photo of each member to go next to it.
Garcia was surprised at how many people in the community jumped to their feet to help her gather the items after seeing her Facebook post that asked for donations.
"It was very sweet how everybody immediately started saying, I could help you, we can donate things,” she said.
She has made efforts to get permission for the display but has yet to get approval, still she shows her determination to get it done.
"Nothing is going to stop me, even if I don't get the permission to do it here, I'm still going to do it outside my house.. But whatever I'm doing is so little compared to what they did,” Garcia said.
