Gilroy
– A grief that has gathered for nearly two weeks – since Gilroy
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeramy Ailes was killed fighting in
Iraq – is expected to draw hundreds of area residents this weekend
for the young man’s burial. City officials are calling on mourners
to honor the fallen Marine and
his family on Sunday by lining the First Street approach to
Gavilan Hills Memorial Park – the last steps to the soldier’s
resting place.
A grief that has gathered for nearly two weeks – since Gilroy U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeramy Ailes was killed fighting in Iraq – is expected to draw hundreds of area residents this weekend for the young man’s burial. City officials are calling on mourners to honor the fallen Marine and his family on Sunday by lining the First Street approach to Gavilan Hills Memorial Park – the last steps to the soldier’s resting place.
“I expect that it’s probably going to be a large turnout,” said Gilroy Police Sgt. John Sheedy. “Definitely in the hundreds …Â I don’t think there are too many folks in our city that have not made some comment about it. Clearly, the citizens of this community are extremely supportive of the Ailes family.”
Ailes, 22, died Nov. 15 during the final days of a campaign to flush out insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq. He was ambushed by an Iraqi pretending to be injured, according to his father Joel Ailes. In addition to his father, the soldier is survived by his mother Lana and three sisters – Janay, 23, Jenny, 14, and Leah, 12.
Both the American and city flags will fly at half-staff over City Hall this weekend in honor of Ailes.
Visitation for the soldier takes place Saturday and funeral services will be held Sunday at Gilroy Presbyterian Church.
Following the services, a police escort will clear the streets for a funeral procession. Sheedy said the procession, which will head north on Santa Teresa Boulevard and then east on First Street to the cemetery, will last about 15 minutes. He expects the procession to begin about 4pm.
As part of the procession, police will block all side streets off the northbound lane of Santa Teresa Boulevard and the curbside lane going east on First Street.
City officials are calling on residents who are not attending the funeral to gather at the cemetery gates by 3:45pm. City officials hope to organize mourners along the First Street approach to the cemetery, from its gates west to the junction with Westwood Drive. Local Boy Scouts, bearing flags typically used during Memorial and Veteran’s Day, will distribute small American flags to people along First Street.
Ailes will receive a Purple Heart and a full military burial. Eighteen Marines from the San Jose Marine Corps office will be involved in the funeral, including a bugler, pallbearers, riflemen, a swordsman and Marines who will present the American flag to the family.
“All our hearts go out to the family,” Sheedy said. “We can’t fathom what it is they’re going through right now, but we understand it’s going to be a tough road ahead.”
