Group beating of soldier was 
a cowardly act

When one thinks of the perfect brother, there should be a cutout of Cody Gonzalez. It seems unrealistic, as a child, to imagine a great relationship with your sibling. I couldn’t be more proud to say I’m his sister.

I was utterly disappointed by the Sauk Valley Media article [“Soldier says he was attacked outside bar”] on June 29. We seem to like to put in many articles about our thankfulness to soldiers and their fight for our freedom. My brother never wants to be thanked or acknowledged; he sees his job as his duty and feels like he was made for it. He spent 10 months of his life seeing friends die and visions that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone.

What was left out of the article was pretty significant. Cody turned 21 in Afghanistan, and he currently lives in Kansas, on base, which gives him the inability to go out to the bars in Dixon on a regular basis; therefore, he doesn’t even know the hoodlums who attacked him.

And the fact he was returning to Fort Riley? In reality, he’s currently in Fort Riley with my mom, preparing to have reconstructive surgery and metal plates put in his face.

Saying that his injuries came from punches is impossible, when a doctor informed us that his injuries can result only from kicks to the face. I’m slightly unaware how kicks can be done to my brother while he’s standing, especially because he’s 6 feet 2 inches tall.

I am a firm believer that God gives you only what you can handle, and justice is always given to the victim. I cannot think of one situation where a group of individuals should attack someone; how cowardly.

What happened to our community being thankful and respectful of military veterans?

No one deserves this, especially my brother, and I pray that justice is given.