Coachella Valley residents gathered on Friday evening for a candlelight vigil honoring Marine Cpl. Hunter Lopez of Indio, who was killed a year ago in a suicide bomber attack in Afghanistan.
At least 300 people, including city officials from Indio and La Quinta, veterans and members of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, gathered at the La Quinta Civic Center Campus to pay their respects.
The vigil involved speeches about Lopez and music performances of his favorite songs.
In lieu of candles, people waved lit lightsabers since Lopez was a Star Wars fan. Nine people also dressed up as Star Wars characters and raised their lightsabers as La Quinta Mayor Linda Evans recited the Jedi Code.
Lopez's parents, Herman and Alicia Lopez — who both work for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department — stood together before the crowd at the event. Herman Lopez said they decided to do a Star Wars theme to honor their son, describing one of his favorite memories of a birthday party that involved a surprise lightsaber duel.
"Thank you for the continued support. We have people that frequently come up to us at the grocery store, at restaurants, just everywhere that we go. We don't mind it," Herman Lopez said. "We know that when you come to us ... that that means that you remember Hunter, you remember his sacrifice and you remember the sacrifice of all his brothers and sisters that day."
The suicide bomber attack that killed 22-year-old Lopez and 12 other U.S. service members occurred Aug. 26, 2021, outside of a main gate at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. It happened as American and Afghan allies were being evacuated before the United States withdrew from the country on Aug. 31 of that year.
The Pentagon determined that a suicide bomber and multiple gunmen from the ISIS-K terrorist network were responsible. At least 169 civilians were also killed.
Indio Mayor Waymond Fermon said he can never forget Lopez and a vigil will be held for him every year. The City of Indio will also give a certificate in Lopez's name to a veteran every August, he added.
"I know Hunter's watching down on us right now," Fermon said. "He sees these lightsabers, and he's proud of his service."
Community members mourned Lopez’s death last year with a candlelight vigil, funeral procession and memorial service. They continued to honor him and his family this year at the vigil.
Sgt. Robert Garcia said a lot more people came to the vigil than he expected. Garcia is a friend of Lopez and his family, saying he'd known him since the day he was born.
"(Hunter) was a great kid, he really really was," Garcia said. "Wanted to do a lot of things in life, always talked about doing things, and it was just unfortunate what happened."
Vicki Vince said it means a lot to the Lopez family for people to come together and honor their son and everyone else who died in Kabul. She said Lopez was a great kid and comes from a family of givers.
"That's why they established their foundation that they have, because they want people to remember (Lopez) had his whole life ahead of him and they want to be able to pick up where he left off and not being able to fulfill all his dreams," she said.
The family has created the Hunter Lopez Memorial Foundation.
Previous reporting from USA Today and Desert Sun staffers Amanda Ulrich and Christopher Damien was included in this report.
Ani Gasparyan covers the western Coachella Valley cities of Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. Reach her at ani.gasparyan@desertsun.com.