Tribute in Melilla to Lieutenant Aguilar, who died in Bosnia-Herzegovina 25 years ago

The Lieutenant's widow puts the floral tribute under his bust (Photo:COMGEMEL)

Formation of the 'Gran Capitán' Tercio (Photo:COMGEMEL)

The head of the Command chaired the ceremony (Photo:COMGEMEL)

"Gran Capitán" Tercio, 1st of the Legion, paid tribute to Lieutenant Francisco Jesús Aguilar Fernández, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his death in Bosnia-Herzegovina, with a ceremony held the 2nd of June at Hernández Park in Melilla.

A oicket made up of a section of the 3rd Company, to which Lieutenant Aguilar belonged, paid tribute to his memory. Subsequently, the War Band belonging to the Tercio played the chords of the "Novio de la Muerte", after which the widow of the soldier and the oldest member of the 45th Promotion of the General Military Academy placed a floral tribute on the bust that stands in an area of the park.

Along with the family of Lieutenant Aguilar, who had moved to the city of Melilla, were present his companions from the 45th Promotion of the General Military Academy, who had arrived from the Peninsula, as well as others posted in Melilla and close friends, in an event chaired by General José Miguel de los Santos Granados, commander general of Melilla.

The 11th of June in 1993 the Lieutenant was shot in the neck by a bullet that killed him, almost instantaneusly, while his convoy crossed the Tito bridge, a link between the Muslim and Croatian neighborhoods of the city of Mostar, in the ancient Yugoslavia. Lieutenant Aguilar, who was 28, was part of the UN peacekeepers (Blue Helmets) Company, sent 20 days earlier to the area of operations to support "Agrupación Canarias".