Hero Mission: A Soldier's Body Is Returned to His Mother

Patricia Weaver’s only son arrived home from Afghanistan today in a coffin flown to Los Alamitos to be honored by his family, friends, fellow soldiers and the community.

Army Sgt. Jason Weaver, 22, of Anaheim, died March 3 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device, according to the Department of Defense. 

Weaver was honored Monday in a solemn ceremony called a Hero Mission. Flags whipped in the wind, and dozens of soldiers stood at attention as his silver, flag-draped coffin was unloaded from a plane and carried to a waiting hearse.

His sacrifice was punctuated by the pained cries of his mother, a reminder that Jason Weaver was a son, nephew and cousin, who died suddenly at a young age.

“Oh, my baby. Oh, Jason, sweetheart, I love you so much. Oh, my baby, my baby,” cried Patricia Weaver as she hugged her son’s coffin. “Why did you take him from me?"

Weaver’s small family, including his aunts and cousins, held hands forming a protective circle around his coffin as his mother cried over him.

An officer helped to hold up Patricia Weaver, and a wheelchair was brought for her follow her son's casket as it was taken away.

The somber scene was painful to watch, but it was important that the community be there to honor the sacrifices of the Weaver family, said those in attendance.

“We look at this as an opportunity to honor the sacrifices and service of our fallen brothers in the Army and their families,” said Lt. Jan Bender, a spokesman for the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, which has hosted roughly a dozen Hero Missions for local soldiers who died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Newport Beach resident and Korean War veteran Robert Anuba attended the emotional ceremony to pay his respects.

“We are so fortunate to have soldiers who are willing to sacrifice their lives for our country,” he said. “Being in the Korean War, I lost so many buddies, and this is a way for me to let my feelings out and show people we care.”

Hero Missions are held at the base when a local soldier who is killed in the war is flown home. Because of the airfield on the Joint Forces base, the surrounding community has had the opportunity to honor fallen soldiers long since the wars and their tolls have fallen off the front pages and out of the public eye. The base has hosted 14 Hero Missions since 2009.

Jason Weaver’s family allowed the public to attend so that the community could know who he was.

“He was a very brave and courageous young man, said his aunt Linda Berkheimer. “He was not a follower. He was a leader.”

The family tried to talk him out of enlisting, but it was something he had always wanted to do, said his aunts and cousins. A graduate of El Dorado High School in Placentia, Weaver played football for his high school team as a linebacker and planned to become a police officer when he returned from the war. He was strong-willed and couldn’t be talked out of doing what was important to him, said his aunt.

Weaver talked to his mother almost daily before he was killed.

Patricia Weaver issued a written statement about her son.

“My son was a very compassionate, loving, caring and generous person. He always wanted a job helping people. He always made people laugh. He adored children. When he walked into a room, everybody noticed him by his adorable smile and dimples. He always knew some day he would join the Army. He was a terrific son, friend and best friend, and a wonderful human being. I love him so much. I will miss him very much.”