By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

THE remains of Army Spc. Lee Roy Camacho arrived here on Friday aboard a U.S. Air Force 747.
Members of the community, led by his relatives, friends and Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, paid their last respects to the CNMI’s fallen son.
Residents waved U.S. and CNMI flags along the road where the hearse carrying Camacho’s remains passed by.
The 28-year-old soldier’s wife, Velma, and their three young boys flew to the island from Texas.
The fifth Iraq war casualty from the Northern Marianas, Camacho was killed after a bomb exploded during his unit’s breaching operations in Baquba, Iraq on Feb. 9.
Camacho’s mother, Maria, broke into tears when the casket carrying the remains of her seventh child was brought into the airport’s function room.
His sister, Juanette, said the U.S. should stop sending more troops to Iraq.
Camacho’s internment is scheduled today at the CNMI Veterans’ Cemetery.
Ruth Coleman, an Air Force veteran and the director of the CNMI military and veterans affairs office, said she is disappointed that Vice President Dick Cheney did not recognize the CNMI in his speech while on Guam Thursday.
“We grieve and we feel sorry for the family. We don’t want this to happen to anybody. (Camacho) is a hero. He sacrificed his life for our freedom (and that of the Iraqi people),” said Coleman.