Whittier family mourns loss of Matthew Perez, 20, killed in Army training accident – ​​Whittier Daily News

Army PFC Matthew Perez, a paratrooper with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, died on September 13, 2024, from injuries sustained during training at the Joint Readiness Training Center. Pictured is Perez in action. (Courtesy of Laura Herzog, founder of Honoring Our Fallen).

Matthew Pereze with his parents Vanessa Perez and Jose Perez. Perez, a paratrooper with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, died on September 13, 2024, from injuries sustained during training at the Joint Readiness Training Center. (Courtesy of Laura Herzog, founder of Honoring Our Fallen)

With siblings: Matthew Perez, bottom left; brother Lino, bottom right; sister Sofia, top left; brother Baltazar, top right. (Courtesy of Laura Herzog, founder of Honoring Our Fallen)

Matthew Perez, center, with wife Jessica Patino Perez and “bonus daughter” Sofia. (Courtesy of Laura Herzog, Honoring Our Fallen)

Army PFC Matthew Perez, a paratrooper with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, succumbed to injuries sustained during training at the Joint Readiness Training Center on September 13, 2024. Image is his official U.S. Army Airborne photo. (Courtesy of Laura Herzog, founder of Honoring Our Fallen)

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Army PFC Matthew Perez, a paratrooper with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, died on September 13, 2024, from injuries sustained during training at the Joint Readiness Training Center. Pictured is Perez in action. (Courtesy of Laura Herzog, founder of Honoring Our Fallen).

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Not long ago, Jose and Vanessa Perez of Whittier celebrated the wedding of their eldest son and welcomed his bride and their baby daughter into the family. On August 23, less than a month ago, they were delighted to hear the news that their son, Army Private Matthew Perez, and his wife Jessica were expecting a baby.

This week they are making preparations for their son's funeral.

Perez, a paratrooper with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, died Friday, Sept. 13, from injuries sustained during training at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Johnson, Louisiana. He was 20 years old.

“I love him, I wish I could have him here,” Jose Perez said Wednesday.

Perez's injuries occurred on the day of his death and were related to airborne exercises at the combat training center, officials told the Army Times weekly newspaper.

The incident that led to Perez's death was investigated.

“His sudden loss has impacted our entire formation and we extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends and teammates in the Panther Brigade,” said Col. Jaron Wharton, 3rd BCT commander.

Perez, a graduate of La Habra High School, enlisted as an infantryman in March 2023, according to the Army. He completed station training and Airborne school before being assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division in October. His awards include the Army Service Ribbon and Marksmanship Badge.

Family and friends said Perez fulfilled a dream by joining the military, and he aspires to a career as a police officer with ambitions of joining a SWAT team.

He recently married Jessica Patino Perez and has taken on the role of “bonus dad” to their daughter Sofia, said Laura Herzog, founder and executive director of Honoring Our Fallen, an organization that supports families in the death of a military member or first responder.

Herzog interviewed the family on Tuesday as they processed their loss.

“As I left the conversation with the Perez family, I could see how, despite their grief and anguish, they were sticking together, wanting him back, being grateful and holding on to the blessing of this baby,” Herzog said.

Herzog himself was still thinking about Matthew's mother's words.

“My son is a fighter,” Vanessa Perez told Herzog, recounting that Vanessa was only 27 weeks pregnant when Matthew was born. Doctors told the couple that if their son survived, he could face a life of medical complications. But Matthew proved them wrong and fought bravely until his death, Vanessa Perez said.

Jessica Perez said her husband was the greatest man she had ever met and that he had already been a wonderful father to Sofia. She knows he would have been a great father to her unborn child as well.

“She is sad that all of this was taken away from them,” Herzog said.

Matthew Perez's younger siblings Baltazar, Lino and Sophia said he has always been a leader among them. Lino Perez said he also plans to join the army.

The family firmly believes that from the moment he was drafted, Matthew was ready to do his best in service to the nation, Herzog said.

“He was a fighter from his first breath to his last and they are determined to be strong for each other and for the coming baby,” she added.

Funeral arrangements, including a memorial service by Whittier, are pending.