Coming home
Relatives of Army Pfc. George Delgado of Palmdale, who was killed recently in Iraq, are grief-stricken this week as a hearse carries his body past his home. Delgado and three other GIs died one day after being hit by the blast from a roadside bomb in Baghdad. Now his family has to bear the unbearable. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
Megas Roddy, 3, and Brendon Roddy, 6, nephews of Pfc. Delgado, 21, get a close look at his casket during a private wake at a Lancaster funeral home. Delgado was one of more than 4,000 members of the U.S. military who have died in the Iraq war. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
Members of an Army color guard carefully unload the casket of Pfc. George Delgado at Riverside National Cemetery. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
An Army color guard folds the flag that draped the coffin for the family at Riverside National Cemetery. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
Pfc. Delgado’s mother, Maria Calle, and his sister, Cynthia Delgado, 19, hold the flag that was draped over the casket. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
Annotsa Pinillos, from left, an aunt of the fallen soldier, hugs his mother, Maria Calle, while his sister, Cynthia Delgado, gets a hug from another aunt, Margot Paz de las Vega. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
A headstone for Pfc. Delgado is cleaned after his burial at Riverside National Cemetery. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
George Delgado’s grandmother Blanca “Mamiclarda” Delgado was the last to leave the grave, telling family, “ ya complio co su deved”. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
