Suburban post office would be renamed for fallen soldier under House resolution

An effort is underway to ensure a fallen suburban Chicago soldier is honored and celebrated for years to come.

Army Sgt. Jose Dueñez Jr. was raised in Joliet along with his five sisters. He graduated from Joliet Central High School in 2017 and enlisted in the U.S. Army shortly afterward.

It’s something his family said they always thought he would do – when Dueñez was a child, he would often run up and down the street outside of his home, playing “soldiers.”

During his service, Dueñez was promoted five times, becoming staff sergeant in November 2020.

Last year, his family received heartbreaking news.

Dueñez was killed, along with three other soldiers, during a military training exercise in Lithuania.

“Sometimes, I like to think that he is still coming back,” said his nephew, Giovanni Ramirez. “I just miss being able to call him the most. I am just grateful for the memories we made together.”

An effort to permanently memorialize Dueñez is moving forward.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Lauren Underwood to rename the Plainfield U.S. Post Office recently passed out of committee and is headed to the full house for a vote. If approved, the facility would be known as the Staff Sergeant Jose Duenez Jr. Post Office Building.

“I was just so grateful people want to honor my brother. I am also grateful that so many people love him – people who never met him,” said his sister, Beatriz Dueñez. “He loved what he did and is still making us proud. That building will be here a long time after a lot of us our gone.”

House Resolution 6020 has bipartisan support.

“It is such a great way to show that he was honored and respected,” said his mother, Leticia Dueñez. “He paid the ultimate sacrifice for this country, a country he loved. We will be able take my grandson to the post office, and he will see his father’s name and know what kind of person he was.”

The family has established an online fundraiser to help Dueñez’s wife and young son.