Hundreds of family members, friends, and community members gathered at Hawks Auditorium at East Aurora High School Wednesday, Jan. 29. The city government of Aurora held a public memorial for U.S. Army Specialist Miguel Villalon. An East Aurora High School graduate, Villalon was killed in action January 11 in Afghanistan when the vehicle he was in struck an improvised explosive device (IED).
The service opened with the NJROTC cadets presenting the colors, followed by an invocation by Chief Albert Farmer.
Tributes followed from School Board president Annette Johnson, Lt. Lauren Carthan, and Aurora mayor Richard C. Irvin.
Miguel’s former teacher, Chief Kevin Meadows, and friend, Army Specialist, Vincent DeLao, offered remembrances. Miguel’s mother, Olivia Guzman Villalon, offering a family reflection.
Presentations were made by Mayor Irvin, Aurora poet laureate Karen Fullett-Christensen, the East Aurora NJROTC cadets, Illinois Patriot Guards, and the Department of Illinois Military Order of the Purple Heart.
East High School’s NJROTC cadets presented the colors and participated in a moving processional salute to Miguel’s family, with hundreds of cadets each presenting Miguel’s mother with a flower.
—Al Benson