Community Corner

Update: Second Coronado Procession Honors Lost SEAL

Residents watch as the remains of Jesse Pittman, 27, are taken to Fort Rosecrans.

Updated throughout, 2:45 p.m.; new information includes interviews from people on scene.

 

Coronado came out again to salute a Navy SEAL Tuesday, after Jesse Pittman, 27, was remembered in a memorial service at North Island Naval Air Station.

Find out what's happening in Coronadowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

One resident waved a large flag to salute someone else's lost son. Another brought small flags for herself and her small boy.

Both moms stood on different corners along 4th Street Tuesday for the second procession in Coronado this week .

Pittman, 27, was laid to rest in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. His procession follows that of Darrik Benson, 28, who also was killed in the crash. Benson's remains .

For Pittman's procession, Vicki Inghram held the flag she and her husband, a retired Marine colonel, keep up year-round on their home in the Cays.

Her son, Brad Stark, a Coronado High School graduate, just entered the Army to become a Green Beret, and she teared up talking about how lost Pittman's family must be feeling now.

“I wanted to support the parents and the loved ones,” she said. “They're grieving.”

Annie Obermueller, whose husband Josh is in the Navy and stationed at Naval Base San Diego on 32nd Street, brought along her son Wesley, though he is only 2.

The tot held his flag aloft and wore a shirt proudly declaring his dad's military association.

It's not possible to explain death to someone so young, Obermueller acknowledged, but he may begin to grasp something else.

“I want this to start him to learn how to show respect for others and for his country,” said the Imperial Beach resident, “especially for the people that are heroes.”

Find out what's happening in Coronadowith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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