Hunter Lopez Lightsaber Vigil Set in La Quinta
LA QUINTA — This city welcomes the public to join in a lightsaber vigil to honor Marine Cpl. Hunter Lopez and his fellow service members who lost their lives in the August 2021 attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.
The community is encouraged to come together to remember their sacrifice.
A lightsaber vigil is a gathering where people honor and remember individuals who have made significant sacrifices. Participants often bring lightsabers as a symbolic gesture during these events.
Lopez, the son of Riverside Deputy Sheriff Alicia Lopez and Riverside Sheriff’s Captain Herman Lopez, was killed in action while stationed at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul during the U.S. led evacuation effort.
He joined the U.S. Marine Corps and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines. Lopez, who was 22 years old at the time of his death, planned on becoming a Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy after returning from his current deployment.
Lopez was among 13 U.S. service members killed in the bombing. Others included an expectant father from Wyoming and a and a medic from Ohio. wo were women, Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, and Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Mass.
Earlier this month at the Republican National Convention, Newsweek reported that Herman and Alicia Lopez spoke about their son, Capt. Hunter Lopez.
“In the nearly three years since Hunter’s been gone, there has been silence. Silence from that empty space at the dinner table, where Hunter would have joined his brothers and sister and us for family gatherings,” Alicia said. “And there has been a deafening silence from the Biden and Harris administration. Despite our pleas for answers and accountability, they have pushed us away.”
The lightsaber vigil is set for Monday, Aug. 26 from 7 p.m. to 8:59 p.m. on the Civic Center Campus, 78495 Calle Tampico.
Image Sources
- Hunter Lopez: RSO Facebook