thedrifter
03-01-08, 08:25 AM
Hundreds attend Marine's funeral
By Tim Bryant
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Saturday, Mar. 01 2008
ST. CHARLES — The parents of Marine Lance Cpl. Drew Weaver buried their son
Friday, eight days after he was killed in Iraq.
More than 500 people attended a funeral Mass for Lance Cpl. Weaver at St.
Cletus Catholic Church.
In his homily, the Rev. Jim Benz spoke of the "threads of life" that connect
people.
Lance Cpl. Weaver, bound to the Marine motto Semper Fidelis — always faithful —
understood that freedom is precious "and must be preserved, sometimes at great
cost," Benz said.
Lance Cpl. Weaver would urge young people to work harder for a world without
war, the pastor said.
Lance Cpl. Weaver, 20, died Feb. 21 of what the Defense Department said was
hostile fire during a combat operation in Iraq's Anbar province. He is among at
least 20 Iraq war-related fatalities of U.S. military personnel from the St.
Louis area, according to Defense Department records.
Lance Cpl. Weaver joined the Marines soon after graduating from St. Charles
West High School in 2005. He was with Company C, 3rd Light Armored
Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5, based at Twentynine Palms,
Calif.
Benz said he imagines that love for those in need was a major part of Lance
Cpl. Weaver's life.
"After all, why would an 18-year-old young man enter the Marines if there
weren't some sort of sense of duty and some sense of love for what is right
burning in his soul, especially when he knew that there was a chance that he
may never return home?" Benz asked. "We honor him today and we salute him today
for answering that call to service, to duty and to love."
The Rev. Jeff Vomund, pastor of St. Elizabeth, Mother of John the Baptist
Church in St. Louis and a former associate pastor at St. Cletus, read aloud
several notes written by Lance Cpl. Weaver's relatives.
In one, a cousin wrote that Lance Cpl. Weaver returned from Marine boot camp
more mature and confident.
"He was this completely different and changed human being," Vomund read.
Lance Cpl. Weaver's parents — Brian Weaver, a St. Charles County Highway
Department employee, and Diane Spaulding, of Gretna, Neb. — walked silently
behind an honor guard of six Marines who carried their son's casket from the
church sanctuary.
Inside the church entryway were large easels filled with snapshots of Lance
Cpl. Weaver as a smiling toddler, a grinning teenager with friends, and a
helmeted Marine in battle gear.
A milelong line of vehicles, several flying American flags, followed the hearse
to St. Charles Memorial Gardens.
Flags on county-owned property were lowered to half-staff this week to honor
Lance Cpl. Weaver. Mayor Patti York ordered flags on city property lowered and
urged businesses and churches to do the same.
York, County Executive Steve Ehlmann and U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., attended
the funeral.
The procession included about a dozen motorcyclists from Patriot Guard Riders,
a group that attends, as invited guests, the funerals of American military
personnel.
Many people lined the streets as the procession moved to the cemetery. Not far
from St. Cletus, a woman with a small boy held a flag and a hand-lettered sign
that read: "Thank you, Drew."
tbryant@post-dispatch.com | 636-255-7212
Ellie
By Tim Bryant
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Saturday, Mar. 01 2008
ST. CHARLES — The parents of Marine Lance Cpl. Drew Weaver buried their son
Friday, eight days after he was killed in Iraq.
More than 500 people attended a funeral Mass for Lance Cpl. Weaver at St.
Cletus Catholic Church.
In his homily, the Rev. Jim Benz spoke of the "threads of life" that connect
people.
Lance Cpl. Weaver, bound to the Marine motto Semper Fidelis — always faithful —
understood that freedom is precious "and must be preserved, sometimes at great
cost," Benz said.
Lance Cpl. Weaver would urge young people to work harder for a world without
war, the pastor said.
Lance Cpl. Weaver, 20, died Feb. 21 of what the Defense Department said was
hostile fire during a combat operation in Iraq's Anbar province. He is among at
least 20 Iraq war-related fatalities of U.S. military personnel from the St.
Louis area, according to Defense Department records.
Lance Cpl. Weaver joined the Marines soon after graduating from St. Charles
West High School in 2005. He was with Company C, 3rd Light Armored
Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5, based at Twentynine Palms,
Calif.
Benz said he imagines that love for those in need was a major part of Lance
Cpl. Weaver's life.
"After all, why would an 18-year-old young man enter the Marines if there
weren't some sort of sense of duty and some sense of love for what is right
burning in his soul, especially when he knew that there was a chance that he
may never return home?" Benz asked. "We honor him today and we salute him today
for answering that call to service, to duty and to love."
The Rev. Jeff Vomund, pastor of St. Elizabeth, Mother of John the Baptist
Church in St. Louis and a former associate pastor at St. Cletus, read aloud
several notes written by Lance Cpl. Weaver's relatives.
In one, a cousin wrote that Lance Cpl. Weaver returned from Marine boot camp
more mature and confident.
"He was this completely different and changed human being," Vomund read.
Lance Cpl. Weaver's parents — Brian Weaver, a St. Charles County Highway
Department employee, and Diane Spaulding, of Gretna, Neb. — walked silently
behind an honor guard of six Marines who carried their son's casket from the
church sanctuary.
Inside the church entryway were large easels filled with snapshots of Lance
Cpl. Weaver as a smiling toddler, a grinning teenager with friends, and a
helmeted Marine in battle gear.
A milelong line of vehicles, several flying American flags, followed the hearse
to St. Charles Memorial Gardens.
Flags on county-owned property were lowered to half-staff this week to honor
Lance Cpl. Weaver. Mayor Patti York ordered flags on city property lowered and
urged businesses and churches to do the same.
York, County Executive Steve Ehlmann and U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., attended
the funeral.
The procession included about a dozen motorcyclists from Patriot Guard Riders,
a group that attends, as invited guests, the funerals of American military
personnel.
Many people lined the streets as the procession moved to the cemetery. Not far
from St. Cletus, a woman with a small boy held a flag and a hand-lettered sign
that read: "Thank you, Drew."
tbryant@post-dispatch.com | 636-255-7212
Ellie