Answering the Call for a Fallen Soldier
By Katie McFadden
When a last-minute call was put out to show support for a fallen solider, Rockaway and Broad Channel responded. As the flag-draped casket of Arverne resident, U.S. Army Specialist Randy Colon Jr., was brought home on Thursday, March 6, the local communities gave him a hero’s welcome.
Colon, 21, was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. In the early morning hours of February 24, he was driving back to base in a personal car along Interstate 95 in North Carolina, when he crashed into the back of a parked tow truck that had been responding to another incident on the side of the road. Colon was declared dead at the scene.
Colon was an Arverne resident who had attended P.S./M.S. 42 R. Vernam for elementary and junior high school. Colon enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 2022 and was assigned to the 3rd Aviation Regiment 82nd CAB. He had worked as a 15T Blackhawk Maintainer and earned the Army Achievement Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. He had a passion for cars and was loved by his peers. Colon leaves behind his mother, Patricia Lee, father, Randy Colon, brothers, Joshua Washington Harvey and Dorian Valentino Colon, and many other family members.
On Thursday, March 6, Colon’s body was flown to JFK Airport, where local resident Brian Galarza, an Army veteran and fleet service clerk for American Airlines, helped coordinate the transfer back to Rockaway. Just a day before, Galarza put out a call to the community and to firehouses, police, veterans and more, to show their support for Colon and his family as they made their way to Denis S. O’Connor Funeral Home on Thursday night.
Residents and members of various firehouses from Howard Beach to Broad Channel and Rockaway answered the call, lining Cross Bay Boulevard with flags in hand to pay their respects. The hearse and Colon’s family were escorted by the NYPD and members of Rolling Thunder and Patriot Guard to O’Connor’s, where they were met by the FDNY, coordinated by Lynda Thomson, more NYPD officers, coordinated by 100th Precinct Officer Victor Boamah, members of the American Legion, VFW, Knights of Columbus and more.
As the family watched on, fellow soldiers carried Colon’s casket into the funeral home for the wake that was held on Friday. In between tears, his commander, Captain Haley Duke, addressed the crowd saying, “I really want to thank you all for coming tonight. When we drove in, there were so many people along the road. I have 200 soldiers and I can’t imagine having to do this when we’re at home. So thank you so much, it means the world to me and the unit. We very much appreciate you all.”
“On behalf of Local 501 TWU Veterans Committee/ American Airlines at JFK, I would like to thank the members of the American Legion Posts, the VFWs, NYPD, FDNY, PAPD, JFK CPB Honor Guard and the citizens of Howard Beach, Broad Channel and Rockaway Beach who were all present for the display of support during the procession route for Specialist Randy Colon,” Galarza said. “I also want to thank Dee Tubridy for the hospitality at The Rockaway Hotel and dinner at Margie’s.”
After the wake on Friday afternoon, Colon’s friends and family gathered again at O’Connor’s on Saturday morning before continuing to Rosehill Cemetery in Linden, NJ, where Colon was laid to rest. Thank you for your service, Spc. Randy Colon Jr.
Photos by Katie McFadden and BCVFD.
