A Brooklyn family is trying to cope with the death of a man they called their hero, a soldier who was killed while fighting for his country.
Sergeant Kimmel Watt was killed June 2nd in a roadside bombing in Iraq, where he had been stationed since January.
Originally from Jamaica, Watt moved to the U.S. in 1985 when he was ten. He lived in East New York and decided to join the Army right out of high school.
His stepsister says he was recently accepted into a computer engineering program at the University of Maine. He died one day after getting the acceptance letter.
“He hasn’t lived yet. This seems like just an obstacle, you know,” said Desrene Watt. “And he believed; you couldn’t tell him he wasn’t doing good, you know. He believed he was doing good and this was the right thing to do right now, you know. And he’s helping.”
Watt’s body will be flown home for funeral services in Queens. His wake will take place on June 19th at the New Jerusalem Church in Springfield Gardens.
He’ll be buried the following day at Calverton National Cemetery
.