WESLACO - It’s been a difficult week for Virginia Hernandez-Lozano who lost her youngest son, Noe Hernandez.

He’s one of the seven sailors who died aboard the U.S.S. Fitzgerald when it collided with a Philippine-flagged merchant vessel.

Hernandez-Lozano said she was both a mother and father figure for her children. She said he loves her children equally, but Hernandez was her baby.

"As a mother, I don't think my son has left me. I know he's in heaven, but I know he's going to continue watching over me as he always has," Hernandez-Lozano said.

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The fallen hero’s mother said she supported her son wholeheartedly when he decided to enlist. According to her, Hernandez started admiring the men and women that served our country at a young age. 

She said her son understood what it meant to wear his uniform.  

Hernandez-Lozano said she never liked knowing when her son was on his way home. Instead, she preferred he surprise her.

She said that made every homecoming a special memory.