thedrifter
02-05-07, 07:34 AM
Ohio servicemen who died in Iraq remembered at funerals
CLEVELAND — The father of an Ohio Marine killed in Iraq recalled at his son's funeral that Sgt. Michael Kashkoush was attracted to the Marines for their toughness and discipline.
"They built my best friend," Marwan Kashkoush said Friday. "And for that I thank the Marines Corps for what they did."
At a funeral for another serviceman Saturday, a pastor recalled playing Monopoly for hours with Staff Sgt. Michael Wiggins of Cleveland. Pastor David Hunter said the 26-year-old, who died Jan. 23 at a military base in Balad, delighted in beating him at the game. Wiggins was a junior deacon and choir member at Bright Star Missionary Baptist Church.
The Defense Department has said Wiggins died of an injury that was not sustained in combat, but has provided no other information. He was assigned to the 79th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Wiggins joined the Army in 1998, served in Kuwait in 2004 and arrived in Iraq in October.
The Rev. Anthony Wiggins of East Cleveland, Michael Wiggins' father, also spoke at the funeral at a Cleveland church. "I wish to God I could have died in your place," he said.
Kashkoush, 24, died from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Anbar province Jan. 23, just 10 days after arriving in Iraq. A counterintelligence specialist, he was assigned to the 3rd Intelligence Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force at Okinawa, Japan.
Family and friends came to the service in Chagrin Falls from across the globe, including from Japan, where he had been stationed, Ireland and Jordan, said Dwight Milko, a city councilman who also spoke.
Information from: The Plain Dealer, www.cleveland.com
February 4, 2007 - 10:20 p.m.
Ellie
CLEVELAND — The father of an Ohio Marine killed in Iraq recalled at his son's funeral that Sgt. Michael Kashkoush was attracted to the Marines for their toughness and discipline.
"They built my best friend," Marwan Kashkoush said Friday. "And for that I thank the Marines Corps for what they did."
At a funeral for another serviceman Saturday, a pastor recalled playing Monopoly for hours with Staff Sgt. Michael Wiggins of Cleveland. Pastor David Hunter said the 26-year-old, who died Jan. 23 at a military base in Balad, delighted in beating him at the game. Wiggins was a junior deacon and choir member at Bright Star Missionary Baptist Church.
The Defense Department has said Wiggins died of an injury that was not sustained in combat, but has provided no other information. He was assigned to the 79th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Wiggins joined the Army in 1998, served in Kuwait in 2004 and arrived in Iraq in October.
The Rev. Anthony Wiggins of East Cleveland, Michael Wiggins' father, also spoke at the funeral at a Cleveland church. "I wish to God I could have died in your place," he said.
Kashkoush, 24, died from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Anbar province Jan. 23, just 10 days after arriving in Iraq. A counterintelligence specialist, he was assigned to the 3rd Intelligence Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force at Okinawa, Japan.
Family and friends came to the service in Chagrin Falls from across the globe, including from Japan, where he had been stationed, Ireland and Jordan, said Dwight Milko, a city councilman who also spoke.
Information from: The Plain Dealer, www.cleveland.com
February 4, 2007 - 10:20 p.m.
Ellie