‘She Died for This Country’: Queer Soldier Angel Rampersad Remembered After Death in Iranian Attack
Rampersad, who was 28, died in an attack on a Jordanian military base.
The U.S. military announced Tuesday that Sergeant Angel Rampersad, 28, was one of the service members killed last week in an Iranian attack on a military base in Jordan.
“Today, we mourn the loss of Sgt. Angel Rampersad,” Brig. Gen. Glenn Henke, the commanding general of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said on Wednesday as Rampersad and her fellow soldiers’ bodies arrived at Dover Air Force Base, according to The New York Times. “We extend our deepest, most heartfelt condolences to her family and all those who are navigating this unimaginable loss.”
Officials had initially labeled her as missing.
Born in Trinidad and raised in Queens, New York, Rampersad joined the army when she was 21 — her mother had forbidden her from joining when she was 18, the Times reports.
It was during her time in the military that she met her wife, who has not been identified in the media. The two had adopted a black and white terrier, according to the paper.
“She died for this country, and I am a mother who’s highly proud of her,” Rampersad’s mother, Carol Acevedo, said, the New York Daily News reports. “And I know she was really, really focused on what she was doing, and she loved it.”
The Times reports that Rampersad sang in her church choir, taught herself the drums, and ran track and played softball in school.
“We’re saddened to learn a member of our LGBTQ+ community was among the U.S. servicemembers killed in the Iran war last weekend. Sgt. Angel Rampersad’s family described her as a ‘gentle giant,’ a ‘defender and friend,’ and said she ‘stood up for those who couldn’t fight for themselves.’ We honor Sgt. Rampersad, who made the ultimate sacrifice, and our hearts are with her family, friends, neighbors, and Ozone Park community,” the Human Rights Campaign said in a statement. “Every day, LGBTQ+ servicemembers like her continue to serve this nation with courage, distinction, and honor—even as military leaders attempt to erase their service, question their dignity, and shame them out of the ranks.”
Rampersad’s military awards included the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon, officials said, according to the Times.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement reported by the paper that Rampersad had “lived a life of courage and selflessness.”
“New York, and our nation, are safer because of brave Americans like her who answer the call to serve,” Hochul added.
“Sgt. Rampersad’s courage and sacrifice will be remembered not just in Queens, but across all five boroughs,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement, according to local news station WABC. “My deepest condolences are with her family, loved ones, and all those grieving this profound loss. For so many New Yorkers, wars overseas are never distant-they are felt here at home. The sacrifices made by service members and their families are a constant reminder of this. We are forever grateful for their service and will work every day to honor it.”
Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, and First Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, were also killed in the attack. Eighteen U.S. service members have died since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran.
