Meeks wants Queens soldier included in Iran war death count

Dozens of Queens residents and local community leaders honored fallen Staff Sergeant Angel Sarah Rampersad outside her Queens home on Monday.  Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

A Queens congressmember blasted the Trump administration for removing Staff Sergeant Angel Sarah Rampersad, who was from Queens, and three others from the Iran war’s official death toll.

Congressmember Gregory Meeks told the Eagle on Monday he wants Rampersad and the three other troops put back on the war’s death toll to honor their sacrifice.

Last week, the Pentagon removed Rampersad, along with Lt. Tyler James Feehan and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales – who died in the same attack as Rampersad – and Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, from the official count of Iran war casualties on their website. The change decreased the total number of U.S. service member deaths from 18 to 14. The federal government said the change was made because the four soldiers died when a ceasefire was in effect. They were instead classified with other casualties involved in “overseas operations.”

“To me, there's 18 people that served our country that died because of this war,” Meeks, who also serves as the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Eagle. “There never was a stopping, a cessation, really, of fighting.”

Though a spokesperson for the Pentagon previously told the New York Times that the change was an "anomaly" on the agency’s website, the DOW stood by the designation change this week.

As of Tuesday afternoon the death count remained at 14. Rampersad’s name was not listed.

Meeks wants the names restored.

“Those individuals deserve it,” he said.

“They were there for one reason – the president of the United States made a determination that he was going to start a war,” the longtime legislator added.

Rampersad, a 28-year-old Queens local who worked maintaining battlefield communications, was killed on July 17 when an Iranian missile struck the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan where she was stationed.

Community remembers ‘a hometown hero’

Meeks’ comments to the Eagle came at a vigil held for Ramprasad outside her family’s Ozone Park home on Monday night.

Dozens of locals came to honor Rampersad, who lived in Queens after immigrating to the United States from Trinidad as a child. She grew up in the South Queens community.

“She was amazing,” Rampersad’s close friend, Jennifer Jones, told reporters on Monday night.

Jones held a poster board filled with photos of Rampersad and written messages from friends Rampersad made at Forest Hills High School.

“I was so lucky to have experienced this lifetime with you,” one message read. “You may be gone from this but your memory and love will never fade away.”

Rampersad was called a “hometown hero” by community leaders and elected officials, who said Monday they want the street corner where she lived and a local school named after her.

“We want Angel's name to inspire future generations of children in the community she loved,” said local civic leader Sam Esposito. “She loved life, she served her community, she prayed in her local churches, she served her country. She answered the call when she was called, and she was one of us.”

Queens Congressmember Gregory Meeks wants the Pentagon to restore Rampersad’s name to the official list of service members killed in the Iran war after it was removed earlier this week. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach

Rampersad immigrated to Queens with her mother and sister at two-and-a-half years old. She attended school in Ozone Park, graduating from Forest Hills High School, where she bowled and played softball, in 2015.

She graduated from CUNY John Jay College with a degree in criminal justice. At 21-years-old she enlisted in the United States Army.

Last week, her aunt Judy Rackal said that Rampersad “always knew what she wanted to be.”

On Monday, the Queens local was posthumously promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.

“The decision to serve is one that the vast majority of us cannot fathom making,” said Borough President Donovan Richards. “Such a young age to willingly leave your family behind. Think about that. Willingly spend months at a time in a combat zone. To willingly risk your life to make sure your loved ones are safe, and our democracy lives on.”

Rampersad was remembered by dozens of neighbors, veterans and other elected officials from Ozone Park and beyond.

“I learned and read about her kindness and her faith, her diligence as a student, her passion for service, her conviction in this country and its highest ideals,” said Congressmember Grace Meng.

“We stand with you,” the representative added, addressing Rampersad’s family who stood in the front yard of their Ozone Park home and listened to the speakers. “With the family, with the community, with everyone here today, and with the many Americans who never met Angel, but will benefit, and honor, and celebrate the legacy that she leaves as an American.”

The family is holding Rampersad’s funeral on Saturday on Rockaway Boulevard. They asked residents to line the route of the procession to honor her.