My Friend Paul (CPL Bernard P. Corpuz) - Memorial Day 2020
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Published 2020-05-25
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Just so you have a better picture of who Corpus was outside my video here, I've pasted some of his bio from his old Facebook page:
Born: August 16th, 1977 - Kings County, CA
Died: June 11th, 2006 - Orgun-E, Afghanistan
CPL Bernard P. Corpuz of Watsonvile, CA, is a 1995 graduate of Palma High School, an all-boys catholic prep school. During his junior year he proved himself as an athlete in soccer and track, and as a scholar. It was the same year he bought himself a car and drove to school each day. He was never late. He went on to attend Hartnell College in Salinas, CA on a track scholarship and also worked in a local coffee shop and bagel bakery. In 2003, he graduated from the University of La Verne with a major in Political Science.
He joined the United States Army as a Human Intelligence Collector and was chosen to study a language at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, CA. He completed the Basic French Course in April of 2005 and headed to Afghanistan, where he was a well-respected interrogator known for his hard work, caring attitude, religious views, and love of 80s metal/hair band music.
28 year-old CPL Corpuz was en-route to Ghazni City, Afghanistan as part of a quick reactionary force responding to an earlier attack when his convoy came under enemy small arms fire and an improvised explosive device detonated under his vehicle. CPL Corpuz was medevac’d to Orgun-E, Afghanistan, and died there from wounds sustained during the attack.
CPL Corpuz’s awards include the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, and the Combat Action Badge.
CPL Corpuz is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA – Sec 60 Site 8402. He is honored in the Military Intelligence Heroes display at the Headquarters, United States Army Intelligence Center of Excellence. In addition, the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation room at the Joint Interrogation Facility in Bagram, Afghanistan was named in his honor. However, I have been informed that it has been moved to the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center (JIDC) at the Detention Facility in Parwan (DFIP). He is also memorialized on a plaque for fallen DLI alums at DLI.
All Comments (6)
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Bernard was in my unit at Fort Hood and I deployed with him to Afghanistan. He passed away within hours of being injured of internal bleeding. He was a true hero and a great American. The unit was 321 MI BN and we were attached to 10th MTN DIV.
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One of the best people I had the honor to call, a friend. Thank you for putting this together Phil. I miss Bernard very much. God Bless
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He was my best friend at DLI. Think about him daily
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Very nice presentation, Phil. We will talk about this. Thank you.
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Thank you Phil!!! That was beautiful that you made a video like this about my cousin Bernard Corpuz! I really enjoyed the story. My name is Jonathan Corpuz Evangelista. I remember my cousin playing the guitar and driving his blue corvette. I miss him dearly. His Dad Bernie Corpuz misses him too. Feel free to reach out to me. I would like to hear more about stories you had with my cousin.
