thedrifter
04-23-06, 07:23 AM
Hundreds honor Marine
Holmes High graduate Justin Sims, veteran of Iraq, laid to rest at home
BY KAREN GUTIÉRREZ | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Justin Sims loved fishing, hot wings, the Marines and his mullet.
Through their tears on Saturday, his family and friends shared their happy memories of the 22-year-old Covington man, who died April 15 while on duty in Ramadi, Iraq. Hundreds attended his funeral and burial in Mother of God Cemetery in Fort Wright.
"The whole community, the whole country, pauses today to honor what he has done for us," said Mike McGriff, senior Marine instructor in the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Holmes High School. "How Justin must be beaming in heaven. I can hear his laughter now. Semper fi, my brother."
"Hoo-rah," came the soft reply from several people in the crowd.
Sims participated in the ROTC program at Holmes and graduated in 2003. A number of ROTC classmates attended his funeral, including one who came home from his own deployment in Iraq and another, Kristine Krumpelman, who flew in from Texas.
"If I could make it, I had to be here for him. He was a great guy," said Krumpelman, a second lieutenant in the Air Force.
After high school, Sims enlisted in the Marines and married Leah Matt, also a Holmes graduate.
The Rev. Michael Sweeney, Sims' pastor at Latonia Christian Church, recalled how Sims addressed him as "sir" when he came home.
"I never in all my years of ministry witnessed a change in any young person like I did in Justin," Sweeney told the crowd. "What a wonderful thing that we got to see and participate in."
Several speakers said Sims believed the Iraqi people deserved a better life, and that the U.S. military's task in Iraq was important.
Sims' mother, Alma Luster Sims-Jones, tearfully read from one of his letters.
In it, Sims wondered if God could turn down the heat a bit, because Iraq was scorching.
He described how sorry he had felt for a shoeless girl in dirty clothes whom he had seen on patrol. He realized how fortunate he was to live in America. And he missed everyone and wanted to come home.
"I love you guys," he wrote. "Love you, mama."
E-mail kgutierrez@nky.com
Ellie
Holmes High graduate Justin Sims, veteran of Iraq, laid to rest at home
BY KAREN GUTIÉRREZ | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Justin Sims loved fishing, hot wings, the Marines and his mullet.
Through their tears on Saturday, his family and friends shared their happy memories of the 22-year-old Covington man, who died April 15 while on duty in Ramadi, Iraq. Hundreds attended his funeral and burial in Mother of God Cemetery in Fort Wright.
"The whole community, the whole country, pauses today to honor what he has done for us," said Mike McGriff, senior Marine instructor in the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Holmes High School. "How Justin must be beaming in heaven. I can hear his laughter now. Semper fi, my brother."
"Hoo-rah," came the soft reply from several people in the crowd.
Sims participated in the ROTC program at Holmes and graduated in 2003. A number of ROTC classmates attended his funeral, including one who came home from his own deployment in Iraq and another, Kristine Krumpelman, who flew in from Texas.
"If I could make it, I had to be here for him. He was a great guy," said Krumpelman, a second lieutenant in the Air Force.
After high school, Sims enlisted in the Marines and married Leah Matt, also a Holmes graduate.
The Rev. Michael Sweeney, Sims' pastor at Latonia Christian Church, recalled how Sims addressed him as "sir" when he came home.
"I never in all my years of ministry witnessed a change in any young person like I did in Justin," Sweeney told the crowd. "What a wonderful thing that we got to see and participate in."
Several speakers said Sims believed the Iraqi people deserved a better life, and that the U.S. military's task in Iraq was important.
Sims' mother, Alma Luster Sims-Jones, tearfully read from one of his letters.
In it, Sims wondered if God could turn down the heat a bit, because Iraq was scorching.
He described how sorry he had felt for a shoeless girl in dirty clothes whom he had seen on patrol. He realized how fortunate he was to live in America. And he missed everyone and wanted to come home.
"I love you guys," he wrote. "Love you, mama."
E-mail kgutierrez@nky.com
Ellie