Waterford Guardsman to be brought home for tribute, burial

Waterford - Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Edwin Rivera will be buried at Jordan Cemetery on Boston Post Road.

Rivera, 28, was wounded by indirect fire in a May 20 attack at Contingency Outpost Xio Haq, Afghanistan. He was flown to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where he died late Tuesday night from his wounds.

Rivera deployed to Afghanistan earlier this year with the Norwalk-based 1st Battalion, 102nd Infantry Regiment. Gov. M. Jodi Rell has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff until Rivera's funeral, the time and location of which will be announced later by the Thomas L. Neilan & Sons East Lyme Funeral Home.

Plans are under way to pay tribute to Rivera when his remains are returned to Waterford.

Anyone wishing to donate flags to ensure that everyone along the route will have one can drop them off at Grossman's Seafood at 479 Gold Star Highway in Groton this week or on Sunday during a benefit car wash from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The proceeds from the car wash will support the upcoming lobster dinner for military families and Work Vessels for Veterans.

Rivera, a 2000 graduate of Waterford High School who worked at Millstone Power Station, is survived by his wife, Yesenia, his two children, and his parents, Ceferino and Gladys Rivera of Waterford.

Rivera is the second Waterford High graduate to die in combat in the Middle East. Marine Cpl. Kemaphoom "Ahn" Chanawongse, who graduated the year before Rivera, was killed in the opening days of the Iraq War in March 2003 during operations on the outskirts of Nasiriyah.

"The loss of Staff Sgt. Rivera so close to the traditional Memorial Day weekend serves as a painful reminder to all of us of the sacrifices young American heroes and their families are called upon to make on our behalf," said Maj. Gen. Thaddeus J. Martin, commander of the Connecticut National Guard. "For what Staff Sgt. Rivera has done in service to his state and nation makes him well deserving of the term hero."

The 102nd Infantry, as part of the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Mountain, is partnered with Afghan security forces to train and mentor the Afghan army, police and border police forces in order to strengthen and stabilize the government of Afghanistan.

Rivera's family has established a fund for his children.

Donations can be sent to Chelsea Groton Bank, SSG Edwin Rivera Children's Fund, care of Anne Ogden, 157 Boston Post Road, Waterford CT 06385. The funeral home will have a tribute page for Rivera on its website, www.neilanfuneralhome.com.

j.grogan@theday.com