The remains of a fallen serviceman landed at Jacksonville Naval Air Station on Friday. His name was Junot Cochilus and he came to this country in 2004 to ready himself for a life service.
He was interested in orphanage work, being a Christian missionary and one day becoming a leader in Haiti, his native country.
To meet his goals, he came to the United States.
“My close brother was a man of great courage,” Clasene Jean, his youngest brother, said at Jacksonville NAS while waiting on the jet carrying his brother to land. “He was somebody who set out to do everything he intended in life. He was somebody who had great aspirations in life — to be a senator, to be a minister in Haiti — and that’s why he felt like he had to join the Army and experience the life of a soldier.”
Cochilus, who had lived in Charlotte, N.C., for several years, enlisted in 2010, a year after becoming a citizen. He was attached to the 7th Engineer Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, 10th Mountain Division based in New York. In October he was deployed to Afghanistan.
A month ago, insurgents struck a vehicle Cochilus was in with an improvised explosive device, killing him, according to the Department of Defense.
Also killed in the attack was 2nd Lt. David Rylander, 23, of Ohio.
Cochilus was 34. He left behind a wife and a daughter.
“It wasn’t just a brother that died,” Jean said. “It was like my soul that died. It was the soul of the family that died. He was the spine of the family.”
Hundreds of Cochilus’ fellow servicemen came to Jacksonville NAS to be there when his body landed. One was Lennard Small, a hospital corpsman first class with the Navy. Like most of the men and women there, Small did not personally know Cochilus. Still, he honored him and his service.
“Nobody comes into the military with the mindset that this could happen,” Small said. “But it is always in the back of your mind. For someone to make that ultimate sacrifice, it is very humbling.”
Cochilus’ family flew to Jacksonville from Haiti on Thursday for Friday’s ceremony.
Jean, whose native language is French Creole, needed an interpreter during most of an interview. But when a reporter asked how he felt knowing his oldest brother gave his life for the United States, he answered in English.
“He really loved America,” Jean said. “He really loved American people.”
When Marines helped pull Cochilus’ remains from the jet on the base’s runway Friday morning, the flag of the country he loved was draped neatly over his casket. A cluster of his family members gathered around, hugging it and weeping. Two needed medical treatment after being overcome with emotion.
A private memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Faith Memorial Baptist Church. His widow’s family is from Jacksonville and he will be buried in Jacksonville National Cemetery.