SAN ANTONIO — As each wheel turned, the life, memory, and body of Lance Corporal Guillermo “Willie” Perez moved closer to his final resting place.
“Any Marine that comes in, we want to show respects,” Marine veteran Chad Perraut said.
“We want to give them love, support, and anything else we can for them,” Bob Johnson with the San Antonio Patriots Guard said.
Lance Corporal Perez was just 20 years old when he died during a training mission off of the coast of California.
Eight other Marines died along with him when their amphibious assault vehicle began taking in water.
On Saturday, the San Antonio native made his way home one last time.
“We put it out, and as soon as we got the word out everybody wanted to come together and be a part of it,” Perraut said.
A procession that easily stretched for miles, filled with hundreds of military veterans and community members, escorted Lance Corporal Perez’s body to New Braunfels where he was taken through main plaza before arriving at the funeral home.
Francisco Herrera didn’t know Lance Corporal Perez personally, but says he showed up Saturday because they shared a different type of bond.
“It’s kind of unspoken, unwritten. You go through bootcamp and do all of the same things, regardless of what branch you were in there’s always a connection,” Herrera said.
Like many other who showed up Saturday morning, Herrera says he wanted to do his part in honoring a life, that was just beginning.
“If it were me and my son, it would mean the world to me, so I know it means the world to this family just to get their son home,” Herrera said.