Adań and Yolanda Gonzales are the parents of Sergeant Adań Gonzales, Jr., (seen in the photos they're holding and alongside his Purple Heart) a member of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, killed in action during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan on Aug. 7, 2011. Next to them is a battlefield cross sculpture carved by chainsaw artist Anthony Marquez, a Marine veteran from Gonzales' unit. Marquez carved 17 such sculptures, all inscribed with the roman numeral XVII, for the 17 members of their unit killed in action. Marquez's efforts to memorialize these marines and reckon with his own survivor's guilt is the subject of a feature-length documentary now being shown in festivals, "Make Peace or Die."
Photographed for the Knights of Columbus.
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