Soldier's 2 Wives Meet at Funeral

Benefits, service flag go to bigamist's first wife
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2012 4:47 AM CDT
Soldier's 2 Wives Meet at Funeral
An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Spc. Moises J. Gonzalez during a ceremony at Dover Air Force Base.   (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

Army Specialist Moises J. Gonzalez left a pretty complicated personal life behind when he died in a vehicle accident in Afghanistan last month. After his death, the woman that Gonzalez, 29, married in 2010 discovered that he hadn't divorced the woman he married in 2003, MSNBC reports. The two women, each of whom bore Gonzalez a son, sat in the front row at his funeral earlier this week—as did a third woman who also had a son by Gonzalez. The second wife complained that the military didn't inform her of Gonzalez's death, and that the first wife will receive survivor benefits—and the flag from his casket.

"This woman hasn't been in his life for years, and the only reason she's coming out right now is because of the benefits," she told KGET. "I was with him during thick and thin for three years and he's not here to say anything to explain himself. I should get the flag, not her." Gonzalez's father said he didn't want the family feud to distract from his son's legacy. "He died giving his life for the country he loved," he said. "Like everything else in life, we are here with his family. All of them." (More US military stories.)

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