Family of Fallen Marine Visits Disneyland to Rebuild Lightsaber in His Honor

The family of a fallen Marine visited Disneyland earlier this month to build a lightsaber in his honor.

22-year-old Marine Cpl. Hunter Lopez loved all things Star Wars and even asked his parents to bury him with the lightsaber he built at Disneyland in 2019. Less than two years later, he is being laid to rest, one of the 13 U.S. service members killed in the attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan on Aug. 26.

Related – Flags hung at Half Staff at Walt Disney World

His mother, Alicia, couldn’t bring herself to part with the lightsaber. So, their family came up with a plan. Alicia, along with her husband Herman, their 18-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter, drove from their home in Indio to build a replica of the lightsaber Hunter had created in Savi’s Workshop in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. And this one, built by his entire family, would be buried with him.

“As we walked into Disneyland, the marching band was coming out onto Main Street [U.S.A.] and started to play a Star Wars song,” Mrs. Lopez recalled. “We don’t know if it was Disney magic or whether it was Hunter, but either way it felt good knowing he was there with us.”

A friend of the couple, both of whom work for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, helped arrange for the family to build the lightsaber privately at Savi’s, followed by lunch at the membership restaurant, Club 33, to which the friend belongs. As soon as Club 33 Member Services Coordinator Rex Roberts heard that the family would be coming later that day, he advised a few resort leaders to see what else they could do, given Disney’s legacy of honoring military service personnel, veterans and their families. Members of SALUTE — the cast member Business Employee Resource Group (BERG) that supports veterans and members of the military — connected with Dan Hughes, vice president of Security at the resort.

“We took the American flag that was flying over Disneyland and quickly had it framed and created a plaque, so we could present it to the family,” Dan shared. In the space of 90 minutes, he was on his way to Club 33. “I said, ‘Your son’s sacrifice means the world to our country and also to us at Disneyland, and it’s our honor to give you this token of our appreciation,’” Dan recounted. “Mrs. Lopez broke down in tears and said, ‘My son loved Disneyland,’ and the whole room got choked up.”

Mrs. Lopez said later that the family has been annual passholders for decades and that Hunter had loved coming to the parks since he was a toddler — the spinning tea cups at Mad Tea Party were his favorite. He loved Winnie the Pooh so much as a child that his mother still called the Marine by his nickname, “Hunter Pooh.” But Star Wars was his passion, she said. “He’d dress up as a Jedi for Halloween, he knew all the movies, all the lines — even the background characters.” Mrs. Lopez laughed as she recalled that when she was pregnant with her second child, then-5-year-old Hunter asked if he could name the baby “Uncle Owen” after the Star Wars character Owen Lars. They agreed to keep the name Owen, and laughed as they explained to Hunter why they’d have to drop “uncle.” In fact, Owen had enlisted in the Army just hours before the family received a knock on the door from casualty notification officers about Hunter, who had wanted to follow in his parents’ footsteps in law enforcement with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

At Club 33, 13 glasses of champagne were lined up on the service counter on the day of the Lopez family’s visit as a tribute to all 13 service members lost last month.

“Disneyland is all about celebration and happiness, so it’s not often that we see or hear this in our work,” said Club 33 General Manager Luke Stedman. “But in this divisive world, when we can all come together and support something so meaningful, it’s a reminder of how much pride our cast can take in what this place means to people.”

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Lopez family along with the other families of the 13 service members lost last month.

Let our friends at Destinations to Travel help you book your next Disney Vacation. They are the preferred Travel Agency of Chip and Company and Disney Addicts, and who we use ourselves.

Get started below for your FREE No Obligation Quote.

Book With our friends at Destinations to Travel

Who is your Travel Agent?(Required)

Let us pick for youEric HilesStacy ReedAbbey JohnsonAlisa SullivanAlli WillisAmanda FolsomAmanda VannAmber BrillhartAmber FisherAmy SieburnAndrea SmithAngela AndersonAngie BaycuraAnna PetrilliAnnabelle DuboseApril StefanskiAshley RamseyBeth ParsonsBetsy SantoroBrandie McQueenBrian BuckleyBridget HatchBryan SchwartzCandice SneedCarrie ButlerCarson DockumCasey BoltCharleen HortonChelsea RoyChelsea WuebkerChris BoyerChristie GrubeChristina FratturaChristina SmithCourtney WhiteCraig YoderDan MercedDanielle NorcrossDarby MouritsenDavid ForrestDeborah AlvaradoEmilee BiegelEmily MorrisFaith HakesGail HatchGreg MatzkerHelen HummerHolly CurryJackie CavistonJaclyn PepitoneJamie SwansonJeanine JordanJeff CallahanJenni MaierJennifer BrownJennifer StephensonJennifer StoessnerJessica HatfieldJessica HuffJessica WunderJoe GuertinJon CarpentierJoseph SliwaJulie McCombJustin BrownKat AttridgeKathryn EberhartKathy AndersonKatie HarrellKatie PrevotKayla CookKelsey SullensKim HelmsKimberly HutchinsonKristi GallagherKyle RamsdenLauren DewlenLeanne MonterLinda DurhamLindsay AckermannLindsey VromanLissette BritoLori HardyMallory MorrisonMandi QuinnMaranda PerkinsMarisa AlvaradoMegan TeismannMeghan BlairMelissa ReedMichele KlineMike BeyerMissy McCormickMisty DickersonNancy CasteelNicole ThorntonPatrick O'ConnorPaul SulPeyton Ward-KubikRaylene CooganRegan OstranderRobbie BulusRobert ThomasSara SolbergSarah McCandlishShanna BrowningShelley BennettShelly MetzStacy CristStacy KrzyminskiStacy SmithStephanie DraganoStephanie FerencStephanie WalshSusannah McCordTara SlusserTerri MillerTiffany DobraskiTiffany DrenkhahnTina FarmerTonya LesiukTracy DaneTroy DuncanVeronica RenteriaVicki FesslerWendy CarllWendy HauserWendy KellehanWendy Shelley

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Destination(Required)

Walt Disney WorldDisneyland ResortDisney Cruise LineAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaUniversal FloridaUniversal HollywoodRoyal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian or other Cruise LineI don't know yet

# of Adults(Required)

# of Children(Required)

Check-in-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Check-out-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Comments, Questions or Special Requests

Comments

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

For the BEST in Disney, Universal, Dollywood, and SeaWorld Theme Park News, Entertainment, Merchandise & More follow us on, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Don't forget to check out the Chip and Company Radio Network too!