(Photo Courtesy of “Military Moms of Tracy”)

On August 10th, we saw and heard a beautiful tribute to one of our own hometown heroes. Lance Cpl. Lenin Priego Zurita, arriving home for his memorial, the funeral procession traveling from SFO to his hometown of Tracy. I (Jaimee Lee) was moved to tears to the point of nearly not being able to continue my show. The calls from you were overwhelming. To hear people checking in with me along the route as the procession passed was just amazing. Hearing there were thousands of people lining the roads from SFO and through Tracy is an incredible and much deserved tribute to Lance Cpl. Lenin Priego Zurita, his family and all military. It really hit home, especially since my brother Michael, who was a NAVY Veteran, we just laid to rest at that same mortuary One year ago. Tough show to get through the tears. It made me think, this is how our military should always be respected. Recently, I spoke with a NAVY Veteran who is very involved with our community and Veterans. He described to me what it was like to return from Vietnam. How cruel some people could be to our military. Here standing before me is one of the nicest souls I have ever met, to hear him tell me he was kicked, punched and spit on just for defending our country was maddening to me. I was fortunate to grow up in the 80’s and 90’s so I never witnessed the tumultuous times our military went through. My brother joined the NAVY when I was just 7 years old and headed to The Gulf War on the U.S.S Enterprise (CVN-65). I was always so proud of him and proud to have been brought up with that respect. My nephew enlisted in the ARMY last year after my brother’s death and I am just as proud of him. Seeing the community come together for Lance Cpl. Lenin Priego Zurita was incredibly touching. I am so thankful to be a part of a community that shows such amazing honor to our military.