Gilroy
– A grief that has gathered for nearly two weeks – since U.S.
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeramy Ailes was killed fighting in Iraq –
is expected to draw hundreds of area residents this weekend for the
young man’s burial. City officials are calling on mourners to honor
the fallen Marine and his fa
mily on Sunday by lining the First Street approach to Gavilan
Hills Memorial Park – the last steps to the soldier’s resting
place.
Gilroy – A grief that has gathered for nearly two weeks – since U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeramy Ailes was killed fighting in Iraq – is expected to draw hundreds of area residents this weekend for the young man’s burial. City officials are calling on mourners to honor the fallen Marine and his family on Sunday by lining the First Street approach to Gavilan Hills Memorial Park – the last steps to the soldier’s resting place.
“I expect that it’s probably going to be a large turnout,” said Gilroy Police Sgt. John Sheedy. “Definitely in the hundreds …Â I don’t think there are too many folks in our city that have not made some comment about it. Clearly, the citizens of this community are extremely supportive of the Ailes family.”
Ailes, 22, died Nov. 15 during the final days of a campaign to flush out insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq. He was ambushed by an Iraqi pretending to be injured, according to his father Joel Ailes. In addition to his father, the soldier is survived by his mother Lana and three sisters – Janay, 23, Jenny, 14, and Leah, 12.
In the days since Ailes’ death, the community has searched for ways to console the family and honor the young man. Students at Morgan Hill’s Elementary School, the workplace of Lana Ailes, sang “God Bless America” as visiting Marines hoisted a flag during an early morning ceremony last week. Students at Gilroy High School, where Ailes graduated in 2001, are also planning a ceremony in his honor.
Both the American and city flags will fly at half-staff over City Hall this weekend in honor of Ailes.
Visitation for the soldier takes place Saturday and funeral services will be held Sunday at Gilroy Presbyterian Church.
Following the services, a police escort will clear the streets for a funeral procession. Sheedy said the procession, which will head north on Santa Teresa Boulevard and then east on First Street to the cemetery, will last about 15 minutes. He expects the procession to begin about 4pm.
As part of the procession, police will block all side streets off the northbound lane of Santa Teresa Boulevard and the curbside lane going east on First Street.
City officials are calling on residents who are not attending the funeral to gather at the cemetery gates by 3:45pm. City officials hope to organize mourners along the First Street approach to the cemetery, from its gates west to the junction with Westwood Drive. Local Boy Scouts, bearing flags typically used during Memorial and Veteran’s Day, will distribute small American flags to people along First Street.
Ailes will receive a Purple Heart and a full military burial. Eighteen Marines from the San Jose Marine Corps office will be involved in the funeral, including a bugler, pallbearers, riflemen, a swordsman and Marines who will present the American flag to the family.
“All our hearts go out to the family,” Sheedy said. “We can’t fathom what it is they’re going through right now, but we understand it’s going to be a tough road ahead.”
Services
Funeral services for Lance Cpl. Jeramy Ailes, the 22-year-old Gilroyan who died while fighting in Iraq last week, will take place this weekend.
Visitation is scheduled for 1 to 9pm on Saturday, Nov. 27, at Habing Family Funeral Home, 129 Fourth St.
Funeral services will begin at 3pm on Sun., Nov. 28, at Gilroy Presbyterian Church, 6000 Miller Ave.
Police will escort a funeral procession from the church to the Marine’s final resting place at Gavilan Hills Memorial Park, 1000 W. First St.
Mourners not attending the church services
are asked to gather
at the memorial park gates by 3:45pm, in order to line the soldier’s final approach to the cemetery.
