Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Students pay tribute to fallen ex-classmate

The tiny scraps of red, white and blue ribbon flickered in the steady breeze Wednesday, fluttering against the chain-link fence outside Coronado High School's football field.

From 8 a.m. until the dismissal bell rang at 1:10 p.m., students filtered out to add hundreds of ribbons to the fence, the colored letters spelling out "Rich."

It's a fence that Richard Perez Jr. likely walked by dozens of times during his years at the Henderson campus, joking with his many friends, talking about sports or his plans to join the Marine Reserves. Perez, who graduated from Coronado in 2003, was killed Feb. 10 in a truck accident in Iraq.

A lance corporal, Perez was due to finish his tour of duty and return home at the end of the month. He was the 12th serviceman with ties to Nevada to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

James Melendez, a senior at Coronado, said he was struggling to accept that his friend Perez was dead.

"It doesn't make any sense to me," Melendez said. "People are dying in Iraq when they don't need to be there."

For Ismael Diva, learning of Perez's death during the school's morning announcements last week was a painful shock.

"I actually asked my teacher could I leave the room for a few minutes," said Diva, who became friends with Perez when the two shared an English class. "It took me a few minutes to take it in."

The two friends spent time together outside of school playing sports in a local park, hanging out at the mall or just talking on the telephone, Diva said. Immediately after the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, Perez began talking about his plans to enlist in the Marines, Diva recalled.

"By the end of his junior year he had decided he was going," Diva said. "He wanted to defend his country, family and friends."

Perez told friends he eventually hoped to attend college and follow his father into a career in sports broadcasting. Richard Perez is the host of a nationally syndicated radio sports program.

Diva said he regrets not doing more to stay in touch with Perez after he graduated.

"I should have tried to call him or send a letter or something," Diva said.

Perez's father, sportscaster Richard Perez, visited Coronado Wednesday and said he was "amazed" by the students' memorial.

"The outpouring of support has been phenomenal," Richard Perez said. "The accolades that people are throwing my son's way, I couldn't be more overwhelmed."

As the family prepares for a memorial service Saturday, Perez said he is still waiting for a definitive answer from the military as to how his son died. Several versions of what transpired the night of Feb. 10, when Perez was apparently crushed by a truck backing up, have been put forth, his father said.

"One story was he was on the front of the truck, another he was on the back of the truck and a third story had to do with his helmet," Richard Perez said. "We've also heard the kid driving might have hit the accelerator. We don't know what the truth is yet."

Coronado High School Principal Monte Bay said the school is launching a drive to collect supplies for Perez's unit, Marine Forces Reserve's 6th Motor Transport Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group.

Perez stopped by Coronado in full-dress uniform prior to shipping out, Bay recalled.

"He was beaming, very excited," Bay said. "I can picture him standing in my office like it was yesterday."

Coronado senior Brett Carkill, who helped organize the memorial effort, said whether people agree with the war in Iraq or not, the bravery of it citizens and the soldiers serving there is undeniable.

"I have tremendous respect for the people over there (in Iraq)," Carkill said. "There's a positive outcome, democracy and voting. The troops are going in abolishing tyranny."

Perez's eldest sister, Rheanne, is a sophomore at Coronado. He also has a 17-year-old sister, Richelle, attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and 10-year-old Risa is a student at Taylor Elementary School.

"My son is a true American hero in their eyes and in my eyes," Richard Perez said. "I'm glad he was a Marine. It was what he wanted to do. The biggest message should be that he completed him mission."

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