thedrifter
07-16-07, 05:31 AM
Farewell to a Marine
Family, friends pay tribute Southern Oregon warrior who dreamed of being a teacher before being killed in Iraq
By Bill Kettler
Mail Tribune
July 16, 2007 6:00 AM
Family and friends remembered Juan Manuel Garcia-Schill Sunday as a polite, respectful young man who loved children and hoped to become a teacher after his hitch with the U.S. Marines.
A crowd approaching 300 people gathered at Eternal Hills Memorial Gardens outside Klamath Falls to honor the fallen Marine, who died July 1 during combat operations in Anbar Province, Iraq. They said their goodbyes during an emotional three-hour memorial service that included full military honors.
Many classmates and friends came from Grants Pass, where the Marine who was known as Juan Manuel Garcia graduated from high school in 2005. Family members came from all over Oregon and California. Mourners filled the chapel at the cemetery, and dozens had to sit outside and watch the service on a TV monitor.
"He was always really upbeat," schoolmate Jonathan Vickeron said just before the service began. "He was really good at working with kids."
A Marine honor guard carried the hardwood casket bearing Garcia-Schill's body into the chapel a few minutes after 10 a.m. The Rev. Charles Dreisbach said burying the young never gets easier, even after decades of funerals.
"Everything about such a funeral goes against our instinct," he said, describing Garcia-Schill as "a young man who had so much to look forward to."
Vince Aguilera, a campus security officer at Grants Pass High School, said Garcia-Schill impressed him as someone who was "interested in everything," including why a few people seemed to treat him badly solely because he was of Mexican descent.
"There are many Mexican-American boys dying for this country," Aguilera said.
"We talked a lot about diversity and the problems we had in our community," Aguilera recalled. "I see here we have people from all different races," he said, his voice breaking. "What a price to pay to bring everyone together.
"I didn't have very many heroes growing up," Aguilera said. "Now that I'm a man I can say I have one now."
Gov. Ted Kulongoski eulogized the 20-year-old Garcia-Schill as "the best Oregon has to give, and a Marine who no doubt found much of his strength and courage in the love of his family.
"I have searched my soul trying to understand who God would demand such a terrible sacrifice," Kulongoski said. "I do not know the answer. No one does."
Kulongoski has attended the funeral of every Oregon service member who has died in the Iraq war. As of last week, 61 Oregonians were among the 3,600-plus Americans in uniform who have died in Iraq since March 2003.
Lance Cpl. Richard Bowen of Grants Pass, who served with Garcia-Schill, said his friend told him not to grieve if anything happened to him, but to keep on making people laugh the way they always had together.
" 'We're just clowns,' " Bowen recalled Garcia-Schill saying. " 'If I'm gone, you've just got to pick up the slack.'
"He was more than a friend," Bowen said. "He was more than a Marine. He was a brother to me."
After mourners paid their final respects, the honor guard carried the casket to a hearse, which hauled Garcia-Schill's body about 200 yards to the grave site. The mourners followed on foot, past flag-carrying members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a national group of motorcyclists who attend funerals of soldiers and veterans to provide support for family members.
Terry Mooney of Roseburg said more than 50 riders from as far as Portland came to Klamath Falls for the service.
A squad of old soldiers from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Marine Corps League fired a rifle salute at the grave, and Marines presented American flags to Garcia-Schill's mother, Brenda Ochoa of Chiloquin, and his father, Manuel Garcia of Grants Pass. After the casket was lowered, family members dropped flowers into the grave and then scattered a few handsfuls of soil atop the casket.
Garcia-Schill, who was born in Klamath Falls, was buried next to his great-grandmother and great-grandfather. He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Speaking for the family after the service, Ignacio Munoz, Garcia-Schill's godfather, said they were touched by the size of the crowd that came to remember their young man.
"They never expected to have so many people," he said.
Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492 or e-mail kettler@mailtribune.com
"I didn't have very many heroes growing up. Now that I'm a man I can say I have one now."
Vince Aguilera, campus security officer at Grants Pass High School
speaking at the memorial service for Juan Manuel Garcia-Schill
Ellie
Family, friends pay tribute Southern Oregon warrior who dreamed of being a teacher before being killed in Iraq
By Bill Kettler
Mail Tribune
July 16, 2007 6:00 AM
Family and friends remembered Juan Manuel Garcia-Schill Sunday as a polite, respectful young man who loved children and hoped to become a teacher after his hitch with the U.S. Marines.
A crowd approaching 300 people gathered at Eternal Hills Memorial Gardens outside Klamath Falls to honor the fallen Marine, who died July 1 during combat operations in Anbar Province, Iraq. They said their goodbyes during an emotional three-hour memorial service that included full military honors.
Many classmates and friends came from Grants Pass, where the Marine who was known as Juan Manuel Garcia graduated from high school in 2005. Family members came from all over Oregon and California. Mourners filled the chapel at the cemetery, and dozens had to sit outside and watch the service on a TV monitor.
"He was always really upbeat," schoolmate Jonathan Vickeron said just before the service began. "He was really good at working with kids."
A Marine honor guard carried the hardwood casket bearing Garcia-Schill's body into the chapel a few minutes after 10 a.m. The Rev. Charles Dreisbach said burying the young never gets easier, even after decades of funerals.
"Everything about such a funeral goes against our instinct," he said, describing Garcia-Schill as "a young man who had so much to look forward to."
Vince Aguilera, a campus security officer at Grants Pass High School, said Garcia-Schill impressed him as someone who was "interested in everything," including why a few people seemed to treat him badly solely because he was of Mexican descent.
"There are many Mexican-American boys dying for this country," Aguilera said.
"We talked a lot about diversity and the problems we had in our community," Aguilera recalled. "I see here we have people from all different races," he said, his voice breaking. "What a price to pay to bring everyone together.
"I didn't have very many heroes growing up," Aguilera said. "Now that I'm a man I can say I have one now."
Gov. Ted Kulongoski eulogized the 20-year-old Garcia-Schill as "the best Oregon has to give, and a Marine who no doubt found much of his strength and courage in the love of his family.
"I have searched my soul trying to understand who God would demand such a terrible sacrifice," Kulongoski said. "I do not know the answer. No one does."
Kulongoski has attended the funeral of every Oregon service member who has died in the Iraq war. As of last week, 61 Oregonians were among the 3,600-plus Americans in uniform who have died in Iraq since March 2003.
Lance Cpl. Richard Bowen of Grants Pass, who served with Garcia-Schill, said his friend told him not to grieve if anything happened to him, but to keep on making people laugh the way they always had together.
" 'We're just clowns,' " Bowen recalled Garcia-Schill saying. " 'If I'm gone, you've just got to pick up the slack.'
"He was more than a friend," Bowen said. "He was more than a Marine. He was a brother to me."
After mourners paid their final respects, the honor guard carried the casket to a hearse, which hauled Garcia-Schill's body about 200 yards to the grave site. The mourners followed on foot, past flag-carrying members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a national group of motorcyclists who attend funerals of soldiers and veterans to provide support for family members.
Terry Mooney of Roseburg said more than 50 riders from as far as Portland came to Klamath Falls for the service.
A squad of old soldiers from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Marine Corps League fired a rifle salute at the grave, and Marines presented American flags to Garcia-Schill's mother, Brenda Ochoa of Chiloquin, and his father, Manuel Garcia of Grants Pass. After the casket was lowered, family members dropped flowers into the grave and then scattered a few handsfuls of soil atop the casket.
Garcia-Schill, who was born in Klamath Falls, was buried next to his great-grandmother and great-grandfather. He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Speaking for the family after the service, Ignacio Munoz, Garcia-Schill's godfather, said they were touched by the size of the crowd that came to remember their young man.
"They never expected to have so many people," he said.
Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492 or e-mail kettler@mailtribune.com
"I didn't have very many heroes growing up. Now that I'm a man I can say I have one now."
Vince Aguilera, campus security officer at Grants Pass High School
speaking at the memorial service for Juan Manuel Garcia-Schill
Ellie