TX soldier funeral draws estimated 500

SMITHVILLE, Texas (KXAN) - Mourners began gathering at the First Baptist Church of Smithville hours before the funeral service began Tuesday morning.

Saying “Goodbye” and “Thank you” was something most in the small Bastrop County town did not want to miss.

U.S. Army Sgt. Mario Rodriguez , 24, was the third Smithville soldier killed in Afghanistan in the past year. He died during enemy fire just over a week before, leaving behind a wife and 7-year-old daughter.

"I think it's absolutely, really has turned out to be wonderful," said family friend Bernadette Hyatt. "All the people that have made the effort to come. It's really amazing."

American flags lined the streets, and an estimated 500 people filed into the church to honor the man friends and family said dreamed of being in the military since high school.

"Everybody looked up to him," said Blake Baxter, a friend and former high school football teammate. "He kept everybody in line. Just a good person."

His was the fourth active duty death from Smithville in four years.

• Mario Rodriguez - June 11, 2010 - Afghanistan
• Cody Stanley - October 28, 2009 - Afghanistan
• Josh Farris - July 9, 2009 - Afghanistan
• Tina Priest - March 1, 2006 - Iraq

"There's nothing you can really say but, 'I'm sorry,'" said family friend Norma Martinez. "Even though they know he's in a better place, sometimes that doesn't help our pain."

Friends and family have created a Facebook memorial for Rodriguez. They are also putting together a scholarship in honor of all of Smithville's fallen soldiers to help underprivileged students go to college.

Family members will bury Rodriguez in a cemetery in nearby Waelder, Texas Tuesday afternoon.