A North Texas family spent Memorial Day remembering a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan in December.
Sgt. Enrique Mondragon's loved ones were some of the expected 10,000 people at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.
As the cannons fired off one by one, his older sister, Diphna Charo-Mondragon, couldn't contain her tears.
"We're never going to get over him," she said. "We're always going to have him in our hearts."
"He left this world so young, but only God knows why," Charo-Mondragon said. "He always has a purpose for everything, and we just thank God that he gave us all this time for us to enjoy him when he was here."
Mondragon's wife, Katie, said she never knew she would become a widow at the age of 24. She brought her 2-year-old daughter, Beverly, who won't have her father to wish her a happy birthday next month.
"I bring her almost every Sunday to see her daddy, because I don't want it to be a sad place for her," she said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Enrique Mondragon died the day before Christmas, which also happened to be his little brother Sergio Martin del Campo's birthday.
"I never thought this will happen," he said. "Christmas and New Year's is going to be very different for us from now on and really sad."
More than 38,000 veterans and their family members are buried at DFW National Cemetery.
