The family of 24-year-old Samuel ‘Sammy’ Rodriguez is grappling with heartbreak days after a tragic four-vehicle accident on I-95 in Palm Beach County took the Marine veteran’s life.
“Heartbroken,” stated his niece Alexis Guzman. “Devastated, because there’s so much more that I could have told him.”
Guzman says Rodriguez was born and raised in West Palm Beach and she grew up along his side. After Rodriguez graduated from Forest Hill High School where he participated in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) program, he served as a marine veteran for four years based at Okinawa, Japan.
“He was the strongest person I knew and the biggest person I looked up to,” Guzman said.”He got to serve our country and that’s big opportunity.”
The Rodriguez family hopes he’ll be remembered for that and so much more. They say he loved reading, watching anime and spending time with his loved ones.
Jackson Gaylor, WPTV “Full of life and anywhere he would go, he would always have a big smile on his face,” stated Guzman.