thedrifter
03-18-08, 08:18 AM
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Memorial service is held for ex-Marine from Jeff
Iraq vet's body found in Florida
By Ben Zion Hershberg
bhershberg@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
A Jeffersonville man who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after being seriously wounded in Iraq had found a purpose in the Marine Corps, something he lost after he was hurt, friends said after his memorial service yesterday.
About 300 people attended the service at Faith Lutheran Church in Jeffersonville for Eric Hall, filling the sanctuary to overflowing. Hall's remains were found March 9 in a drainage culvert in Charlotte County, Fla., near where he had disappeared five weeks earlier.
Hall, 24, suffered severe hip and leg injuries in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded near his unit in Fallujah, killing a friend.
Marty Stengel, a captain in the Jeffersonville Fire Department and friend of the Hall family, said he believes Hall's loss of a career in the Marines because of his injuries intensified his emotional wounds.
"He wanted to do that so bad," Stengel said in an interview, describing Hall's love for the Marines, "and it was taken from him."
Stengel said he last saw Hall in the fall when he, Hall and Hall's father, Kevin, went fishing. Eric Hall had made a good physical recovery and was planning to move to Florida, Stengel said, and was looking forward to starting a new life there.
"It seemed like he was really getting it together," Stengel said.
Faith Lutheran Pastor Scott Meier described Hall's suffering in a sermon yesterday, using words of the hymn "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry."
"In a blaze of light you wandered off to find where demons dwell," Meier recited.
"In Eric's life, he encountered more than a few demons," the pastor said. "Most of his youthful demons were exorcised by the Marine Corps. He found a purpose."
After his injuries, Meier said, "in the midst of his suffering, Eric held on to hope."
As he spoke, a tall sacramental candle flickered at the front of the sanctuary next to the copper-colored urn that held Hall's ashes.
Hall disappeared on Feb. 3. Fleeing from his aunt's house where he had been visiting his grandmother, Hall said it was surrounded by enemies.
His motorcycle was found later that day, its motor running, on its side on a road.
Massive searches in the initial days after Hall's disappearance were unsuccessful, but volunteers had continued looking until Charles Shaughnessy, a Vietnam veteran who was helping with the search, detected a strong odor coming from the culvert on March 9.
Shaughnessy, in an interview yesterday, said he crawled 50 yards into the narrow pipe and found a skull.
He backed out and told Hall's mother, Becky Hall, who was nearby coordinating the search.
Police were summoned and the culvert was excavated. The scene "was very emotional," Shaughnessy said
Hall's remains were identified last week.
Veterans like Hall suffering from serious physical and emotional wounds "need a lot more" help than they're getting, said Shaughnessy, who drove to Jeffersonville from Florida with Hall's ashes because his parents couldn't take them on an airplane.
After the memorial service, the crowd filed outside where members of the Marine Corps League conducted a military service for Hall and fired a 21-gun salute. Two of the veterans then folded a large American flag in front of the urn holding Hall's ashes.
Shaughnessy said the family plans to bury the ashes at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Reporter Ben Hershberg can be reached at (812) 949-4032.
Ellie
Memorial service is held for ex-Marine from Jeff
Iraq vet's body found in Florida
By Ben Zion Hershberg
bhershberg@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
A Jeffersonville man who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after being seriously wounded in Iraq had found a purpose in the Marine Corps, something he lost after he was hurt, friends said after his memorial service yesterday.
About 300 people attended the service at Faith Lutheran Church in Jeffersonville for Eric Hall, filling the sanctuary to overflowing. Hall's remains were found March 9 in a drainage culvert in Charlotte County, Fla., near where he had disappeared five weeks earlier.
Hall, 24, suffered severe hip and leg injuries in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded near his unit in Fallujah, killing a friend.
Marty Stengel, a captain in the Jeffersonville Fire Department and friend of the Hall family, said he believes Hall's loss of a career in the Marines because of his injuries intensified his emotional wounds.
"He wanted to do that so bad," Stengel said in an interview, describing Hall's love for the Marines, "and it was taken from him."
Stengel said he last saw Hall in the fall when he, Hall and Hall's father, Kevin, went fishing. Eric Hall had made a good physical recovery and was planning to move to Florida, Stengel said, and was looking forward to starting a new life there.
"It seemed like he was really getting it together," Stengel said.
Faith Lutheran Pastor Scott Meier described Hall's suffering in a sermon yesterday, using words of the hymn "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry."
"In a blaze of light you wandered off to find where demons dwell," Meier recited.
"In Eric's life, he encountered more than a few demons," the pastor said. "Most of his youthful demons were exorcised by the Marine Corps. He found a purpose."
After his injuries, Meier said, "in the midst of his suffering, Eric held on to hope."
As he spoke, a tall sacramental candle flickered at the front of the sanctuary next to the copper-colored urn that held Hall's ashes.
Hall disappeared on Feb. 3. Fleeing from his aunt's house where he had been visiting his grandmother, Hall said it was surrounded by enemies.
His motorcycle was found later that day, its motor running, on its side on a road.
Massive searches in the initial days after Hall's disappearance were unsuccessful, but volunteers had continued looking until Charles Shaughnessy, a Vietnam veteran who was helping with the search, detected a strong odor coming from the culvert on March 9.
Shaughnessy, in an interview yesterday, said he crawled 50 yards into the narrow pipe and found a skull.
He backed out and told Hall's mother, Becky Hall, who was nearby coordinating the search.
Police were summoned and the culvert was excavated. The scene "was very emotional," Shaughnessy said
Hall's remains were identified last week.
Veterans like Hall suffering from serious physical and emotional wounds "need a lot more" help than they're getting, said Shaughnessy, who drove to Jeffersonville from Florida with Hall's ashes because his parents couldn't take them on an airplane.
After the memorial service, the crowd filed outside where members of the Marine Corps League conducted a military service for Hall and fired a 21-gun salute. Two of the veterans then folded a large American flag in front of the urn holding Hall's ashes.
Shaughnessy said the family plans to bury the ashes at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Reporter Ben Hershberg can be reached at (812) 949-4032.
Ellie