Family Needs Special Permission to Attend Soldier's Funeral

Community plans to honor Mission native

MISSION - A fallen soldier's family is getting help to attend his funeral.

Specialist Jose Rubio was killed in Iraq this past weekend. He was born in Mexico but later became a U.S. citizen. The military has told the family his body will arrive within seven days.

However, some of Rubio's family still lives in Mexico. They'll need special permission to cross into the United States.

Congressman Henry Cuellar is working with immigration officials on both sides of the border to help them attend the funeral.

Meanwhile, the Mission community is coming together to honor Rubio. The Ace Club says a special place will be reserved for Rubio in the city's veteran memorial park.

Ofelia Pena-Perez is a member of the club. She says, "This was started by my father, the late councilman Leo Pena. And he had a vision that he wanted to dedicate this park to our veterans in Mission."

The park originally started as a memorial to serviceman killed during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Now the Ace Club is expanding the park to include veterans of the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I'm sure it gives some sort of healing," says Pena-Perez. "Not much. But maybe some sort of healing. They're saying, 'My son is not going to be forgotten.'"

Veteran Arturo Gaytan says the group's already planning to honor Rubio.

"His name will be on the wall like some of the other veterans," he tells us. "We're very proud he served our country. And we're very sad that he is gone."

Rubio's family says the soldier had a love for computers. NEWSCHANNEL 5 visited South Texas College and spoke to one of Rubio's professors and classmates.

Nicole Jjao says, "The first class I taught him was introduction to computers, basic computer skills class. But I found he was already very good in the class."

Benjamin Velez graduated STC with Rubio. Velez remembers a friend that was eager to learn.

"He was really smart. He wanted to learn more about what was going on behind everything. He was really intuitive. He knew a lot about everything," recalls Velez.

He tells us he was surprised when he heard the news about his friend.

"I was shocked. I could not believe it. I felt really bad," he says.

We spoke to other faculty members from STC. They say Rubio would have been a great addition to the staff in the Computer Science Department.