A 51-year-old Army veteran will be buried in Weslaco this weekend.

Pedro “Pete” Sandoval died in an El Paso hospital after falling severely ill with Covid. He was in town helping his son move.

His family said the V.A. wouldn’t pay for the transportation fees to bring his body back to the Valley for a burial. His family ended up setting up a GoFundMe account that raised more than $15,000.

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"It's a testament to who my uncle was as an individual and we're happy that he's home," said Sandoval’s niece, Crystal Moya. “It was a long trip. It was supposed to be short, you know, just take my cousin, find an apartment, come back and unfortunately, Covid struck, and it struck hard."

Sandoval served in the Army reserves for 22 years. 

Burial services are set for Saturday, Sept. 4 at Highland Memorial Park.