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PRINCE FELIPE ATTENDS SOLDIER’S FUNERAL
Kevin Reardon / 2010-02-03 14:07:58
The body of 21 year old Spanish soldier Pte John Philip Romero was laid to rest on Wednesday morning following a service in Barcelona attended by Prince Phillip de Bourbon and the Minister of Defence, Carme Chacon.
Following his death in Afghanistan the soldier’s coffin arrived back at El Prat airport on a Spanish Air Force Airbus 310, just before midnight on Tuesday night where it was met by family members and friends. The body was accompanied by the Minister and three injured colleagues who were all returning on the same aircraft.
Prior to the funeral mass Prince Felipe and Minister Chacon spent time with grieving family members where they offered the government’s condolences. The body was brought into the funeral parlour on the shoulders of eight of the young Columbian’s colleagues. During the ceremony he was posthumously awarded the Military Merit Cross with distinction, an award made to soldiers who are killed in action.
The Prime Minister also sent condolences apologising to the family for his absence. Mr Zapatero is currently meeting with President Obama in Washington where he was attending a Prayer Breakfast with the US leader.
Government officials who also attended the funeral included Economic Minister Elena Salgado, President of the Generalitat, José Montilla, and the PP leader, Mariano Rajoy. The Military contingent was headed by the Chief of Defense Staff, Gen. Jose Julio Rodriguez who read a brief tribute and the chief of staff Army (JEME), General Fulgencio Coll.
The three soldiers wounded in the attack also arrived back in the country yesterday on the aircraft were taken by ambulance to the Ebron Valley hospital where they were treated for their wounds. Lt. Francesc Jordi Rubio was suffering from bruises and abrasions on the face and abdomen, arm and left thigh, abdominal trauma, external injuries and a broken jaw. Pte Daniel Ospina, 23, has a fractured tibia and fibula of his right leg while Alcalá Josu was suffering from a badly damaged mouth.
Romero died and six other soldiers were wounded when the vehicle in which they were travelling ran over an anti tank mine near Atesh Sang on Monday.
Tags: Afghanistan,
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