By Steve Neavling
A Border Patrol agent and canine handler who died from COVID-19 was honored Wednesday at a funeral Mass in Texas.
Agent Freddie Vasquez, 43, was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator in February after authorities say he was infected with the coronavirus while on the job. The CBP determined he died in the line of duty.
“Today, we will lay to rest our friend and brother, Border Patrol Agent Freddie Vasquez,” El Paso Border Patrol Chief Gloria I. Chavez said in a tweet. “We will never forget the impact you have made on our lives, and we will honor your legacy always. We will miss you Freddie. Honor First.”
Vasquez, who worked for CBP for nearly 19 years, was given full honors at San Lorenzo Catholic Church in Clint, Texas.
Vasquez is survived by a wife, three children, two brothers and both parents.
Last month, his wife Inez Vasquez said she encouraged her husband to get vaccinated but he didn’t follow through.
“I am left to wonder if he had obtained the vaccine, would he have been left like this, would it have been as severe?” Vasquez, 44, a registered nurse, told The San Diego Union.
