Parents and Teachers Teach Valley Children About Zapata's Sacrifice
Reported by: Farrah Fazal
Last Update: 12:55 am

BROWNSVILLE - People who never met agent Jaime Zapata are praying for him and his family.

A Valley father brought his children to the events center for Zapata's rosary. Cesar Garcia says he wanted his kids to know and see the man who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving his country.

"We are showing the finer moments on how a family grieves and what they go through so we can have our freedom and have our protection," said Garcia.

A Valley civics teacher also brought seven of her students to pay their respects. One of those students was 11-year-old Clarissa Robles. She says her teacher wanted them to understand how important it is to contribute to your community. She says she's never seen so much ceremony at a funeral before.

"I was sad...I've never seen...the changing of the guard. It was interesting to see how much work and how honorable he was," said Robles.

The rosary lasted a little more than an hour and more than 800 people were here. This include people from across the country and agents who flew in from Mexico.

The funeral mass starts at 8:30 a.m. At 10:30 a.m. people will be able to line up on the streets to pay their respects as agent Zapata's body is taken to the cemetery. He will be buried at Rose Lawn Memorial Cemetery at noon with a 21 gun salute, a flyover and the color guard.

Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder and ICE Director Robert Morton are all reportedly here in the Valley tonight.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS will have complete live coverage of the funeral tomorrow beginning with CHANNEL 5 NEWS this morning. We will also be streaming the funeral live here on our website.

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