An American flag fluttered at half-staff on Wednesday near a white picket fence outside the neat two-story house in Queens where Sgt. Angel Rampersad stayed with her mother when not on active duty with the U.S. Army.
Sergeant Rampersad lived in the house, in Ozone Park, before enlisting at 21. She had hoped to join the Army sooner, when she was 18, but her mother, fearing for her daughter’s safety, had not let her, Carlos Garcia, a friend and neighbor said.
The mother, Carol Acevedo, was not home on Wednesday. She had traveled to Dover, Del., Mr. Garcia said, for one of the U.S. military’s most solemn rituals: the dignified transfer of the remains of a service member killed in action.
Military officials said on Tuesday that Sergeant Rampersad, 28, was believed to be one of three U.S. soldiers killed last week amid an Iranian attack in Jordan. A flag-draped transfer case delivered to Dover Air Force Base on Wednesday held her remains.
She was assigned to the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command in Ansbach, Germany, and was supporting overseas operations when Iranian forces attacked Muwaffaq Salti Air Base on Friday, officials said. She had initially been listed as missing.
“Today, we mourn the loss of Sgt. Angel Rampersad,” said Brig. Gen. Glenn Henke, the commanding general of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command. “We extend our deepest, most heartfelt condolences to her family and all those who are navigating this unimaginable loss.”
Sergeant Rampersad’s death was “a tragic loss for our country, our neighborhood and especially the family,” Mr. Garcia, a member of the Ozone Park Residents Block Association, said in an interview.
He also shared a statement from Ms. Acevedo, who described her daughter as a “gentle giant” and “a defender and a friend.”
“She will live on in the hearts of the people she touched,” Ms. Acevedo added.
Sergeant Rampersad was born in Trinidad and moved to New York when she was about 5 with her mother and an older sister, Mr. Garcia said. She taught herself to play drums as a child and played them enthusiastically as she became more proficient. She also sang in a church choir, ran track and played softball at Forest Hills High School.
An uncle who served in the military inspired her to enlist, but her mother insisted that her daughter go to college, Mr. Garcia said. (Sergeant Rampersad’s father was in Trinidad, Mr. Garcia said.)
Sergeant Rampersad attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan before enlisting around 2019, Mr. Garcia said. She re-enlisted last year, he added.
In the Army, she met the woman who would become her wife, and who, Mr. Garcia said, joined Ms. Acevedo for the dignified transfer on Wednesday. The couple adopted a black-and-white terrier named Rio, Mr. Garcia and another neighbor, John Meyers, said.
American flags flew from many porches and telephone poles in the blocks around Sergeant Rampersad’s home on Wednesday. The house itself had a glittery red, white and blue star on the front door. Scattered in the front yard were pinwheels with stars and stripes and a heart-shaped garden ornament. Two small signs were taped to a side window.
“Faith makes all things possible,” said one.
“Hope makes all things work,” said the other.
Down the block, a neighbor, Brenda Graham, bought a flag on Wednesday to fly from her front porch as a tribute.
“Any parent should never have to bury their child,” she said.
Sergeant 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.
Ms. Acevedo and her husband, Sergeant Rampersad’s stepfather, traveled to Germany last year to visit her while she was stationed there, Oswaldo Ordonez, a neighbor, said.
“They came back very excited they got to spend time with her,” he said, adding that Ms. Acevedo and her husband had not expected Sergeant Rampersad to be transferred to Jordan.
“They could never imagine she’d be one of the ones sent on to the middle of the wolf’s den,” he said.
Mr. Meyers, who got to know Sergeant Rampersad as they walked their dogs, slipped a Mass card into the family’s mailbox on Wednesday.
“She was very sweet, very polite, very friendly,” he said. “I can’t believe this happened in my own neighborhood.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, in a statement, said Sergeant Rampersad had “lived a life of courage and selflessness.”
She added: “New York, and our nation, are safer because of brave Americans like her who answer the call to serve.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani also weighed in.
“For so many New Yorkers, wars overseas are never distant,” he said in a statement. “They are felt here at home. The sacrifices made by service members and their families are a constant reminder of this.”
Two other soldiers killed in the attack on the Jordanian base, Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, and First. Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, were also honored with dignified transfers, as was Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, N.C., who died on Saturday during the disposal of an Iranian drone in northern Iraq.
President Trump and other U.S. officials attended the event. The deaths bring the total number of U.S. troops killed in the war with Iran to 18.
Claire Fahy and David Waldstein contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research.
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