Honoree: Javier O Ortiz-Rivera

Hometown: Rochester, NY
Branch of Service: Army
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Player: Matthew Kress
Staff Sergeant Javier Ortiz-Rivera, 26, of Rochester, New York was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was killed in action on November 16, 2010, while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
SSgt Ortiz-Rivera moved to Rochester from Puerto Rico when he was 7 and graduated from Edison Tech High School in 2002. During school he was a member of the Junior ROTC program which sparked his interest in the Marines. He immediately enlisted and attended school to become a machine gunner - a specialist infantryman who is trained in three different machine guns and who provides heavy fire support to other soldiers. He had deployed three times to Iraq and was on his second tour to Afghanistan.
SSgt Ortiz-Rivera was often described as a family-oriented man. He was always talking about his wife, Veronica, kids, and how much he loved them. All he cared about was making his family happy and proud of him.
He was survived by his wife, Veronica, and three children, Alyssa, Andrew and Anthony.