Family, friends, fellow service members and members of the Ozone Park community gathered Friday to honor the life of Staff Sgt. Angel Rampersad, the 28-year-old U.S. service member killed in an Iranian missile attack on an air base in Jordan.
Funeral services were held at her church in Ozone Park, where loved ones came together to pay their final respects.
As the sun rose over Rockaway Boulevard Friday morning, a motorcade escorted Rampersad’s hearse to the church, and her casket, draped in the American flag, was carried inside as New York flags flew at half-staff under an order from Gov. Hochul.
The service began with hymns including How Great Thou Art and Amazing Grace as mourners remembered Rampersad’s life and service.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other elected officials attended the funeral to honor the fallen soldier.
“My heart is with the family, loved ones and the soldiers who stood beside Sergeant Angel S. Rampersad as they grieve this unimaginable loss,” Governor Hochul said.
“Staff Sergeant Rampersad lived a life of courage and selflessness. New York, and our nation, are safer because of brave Americans like her who answer the call to serve.
Following the ceremony, hundreds walked out into the streets of Queens.
A procession traveled through Ozone Park, passing beneath four ceremonial FDNY ladder arches before continuing to Long Island National Cemetery, where Rampersad was laid to rest.
Hundreds attended, carrying yellow ribbons and American flags to honor her and the ultimate sacrifice she made.
The funeral marked the final chapter of a week-long vigil for the Ozone Park native.
In the viral moment that preceded Friday’s funeral, the community had gathered Monday night for a candlelight vigil outside Rampersad’s family home. Hundreds of people gathered for the vigil organized by the Ozone Park Residents Block Association Monday night on 96th Street, where the 28-year-old lived and was well-known in the community. Neighbors came to their porches holding the nation’s colors high, and others packed the sidewalks and roadways, clinging to candles as they fought back tears. Rampersad’s mother, Carol Acevedo, dried her own tears with a tissue as she looked out at the mass of humanity and said, “I would just like to thank everyone for their love and support and their kindness that has shown for me and my family. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said at the vigil, “Angel Rampersad was not born in the United States of America, but Angel Rampersad was willing to die for the United States of America. That takes a lot of courage.”
“Trinidad may have been where Angel was born, but Angel was the epitome of the American Dream. Angel fought like an American, and Angel will live forever in our hearts as a true American hero. Her memory will echo down this street, throughout this community, and across this borough and nation,” Richards continued.
Judy Rackal, Rampersad’s aunt, said the vigil was “very healing” for the family, who felt the love and support of the community.
Her friend Jessica Rivera said, “She died doing what she loved, which was being there for people — which she always was for us. Wiping tears, hearing stories, and we still can’t believe she’s gone.”
The sergeant’s journey to that Friday funeral began ten days prior.
Rampersad was believed to have been killed in action on July 17, during an enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan. She was initially listed as missing before military officials updated her status to believed deceased. A statement from her family read, “Our beloved Sgt. Angel Sarah Rampersad was a gentle giant. She was involved in her church at an early age, playing the drums and winning every track race among her peers. She stood up for those who couldn’t fight for themselves — a defender, a friend. She loved her family fiercely and will live on in the hearts of everyone she touched.”
Carol Acevedo was in tears as she stood beside her family Thursday, remembering her first-born daughter. “My daughter was a good soldier. She fought for this country, and she died for this country, and I am a mother that is highly proud of her,” she said.
Rampersad enlisted in the Army in 2019 and was assigned to 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command, Ansbach, Germany. Rampersad, who lived in Queens nearly her entire life but was born in Trinidad and Tobago, played drums in her church choir and ran track, and had enlisted in the Army about seven years ago, doing so only after fulfilling her mom’s wish to finish college first.
She later graduated from John Jay College with a degree in criminal justice.
Local leaders have called for a stretch of Cross Bay Boulevard to be renamed in her honor, ensuring her legacy remains a permanent part of the community she called home.