Goya Foods holding Memorial Day event to commemorate veterans and fallen soldiers
The late USMC Sgt. Marty Gonzalez will be honored at the event
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Goya Foods is holding a Memorial Day event in Brookshire, Texas to honor America's veterans and fallen soldiers on Monday.
Bob Unanue, the CEO of Goya Foods, will honor several veterans at the event, including the late Marine veteran Sgt. Marty Gonzalez, who died last December from injuries he sustained 16 years earlier in Iraq.
Gonzalez, a native of Houston, was awarded three purple hearts, two bronze stars and two Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medals for his service.
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He died due to a blood clot in his lungs, which stemmed from injuries in Iraq, including a bullet through his arm and a broken back, ABC13 reported.
It will be the first Memorial Day without Gonzalez for his family. His widow, Tawnee Gonzalez, and her daughter will attend the event to accept the award.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Robert Unanue, CEO of Goya Foods, walks into the Rose Garden before U.S. President Donald Trump signs an Executive Order on the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 9, 2020. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
Other veterans will also be honored at the event, including 93-year-old U.S. Army veteran SGM Victor Lopez, who fought in the Puerto Rican regiment known as the "Borinqueneers;" U.S. Marine Corps veteran Mark "Oz" Geist, a team member of the Annex Security Team that defended the American diplomatic post and CIA annex in Benghazi; CPL Sue Downes, who lost two limbs when an antitank mine hit her humvee in Afghanistan; 101-year-old World War II veteran Stewart Morris Sr.; and USMC veteran Daniel P. Cortez.
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Goya will also mount a new American flag on a 125-foot flagpole and unveil a new monument at the event on Monday.