thedrifter
04-24-03, 08:06 AM
Camp Pendleton Marine buried in Iowa
By TODD DVORAK
Associated Press Writer
A Camp Pendleton-based Marine killed in Iraq was buried Wednesday after hundreds gathered in towns and along roadsides to watch a funeral procession that stretched from his boyhood church to a Cedar Rapids cemetery.
Gunnery Sgt. Jeff Bohr, 39, died April 10 after being shot twice by a sniper during a street fight with Iraqi forces at a mosque in downtown Baghdad.
Funeral ceremonies were held in Bohr's hometown church in Ossian, his hometown in Iowa's northeast corner. His body was then taken by police escort about 100 miles south along Highway 150 for burial in Cedar Rapids, hometown of his wife Lori.
In small northeastern towns such as Calmar, West Union and Independence, scores of flag-waving students and adults lined the sidewalks or crammed the corners of downtown intersections. A young girl in West Union held a sign that said "God bless the Bohr family."
A dozen patrons of The Zipper bar south of Calmar stepped outside to wave and take pictures.
Buchanan County employees stood outside the courthouse with hands over their hearts, and workers at the State Bank in Maynard took a break from business to step outside and wave to the passing procession.
Families on farms between towns pulled up lawn chairs along the highway's edge. And hundreds of oncoming motorists pulled over and stopped along the gravel shoulder as the procession passed.
Public mourning for Bohr began with more than 500 flag-waving students lining Ossian's main street as Bohr's body made its way Wednesday morning to his boyhood church.
"Freedom is maintained at a price, the price of good citizenship ... and sacrifice of those who serve in the military," said the Rev. Cletus Hawes, of the St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church. "Jeffrey Bohr made that sacrifice in the streets of Baghdad."
His wife, relatives and fellow officers remembered Bohr as a Marine committed to his troops, country and the fight to liberate the Iraqi people.
Bohr, the oldest of five sons, was assigned to the Marines' 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, Alpha Company. In his 20 years of service, Bohr served in many overseas conflicts, including Grenada, Panama, Somalia and Operation Desert Storm.
"He was doing what he wanted to do," said Col. David Bethel, Bohr's commanding officer the past 14 months at Camp Pendleton, Calif. "He had that moral fiber that most of us could only hope to want. He learned it at a young age, from his parents and from the town he grew up in."
More than 600 people and veterans from around the country and northeast Iowa attended the funeral service, which included a 21-gun salute outside the church. Many stayed to have lunch with the family in the St. Francis de Sales school, where Bohr attended grade school.
"It's been quite a shock to the community," said Jane Bosch, a teacher who helped organize the student memorial. "We wanted to honor his life and what he did."
Lori Bohr said her husband would be buried with a new wedding ring she bought for him before he died. The couple had no children and was married for nine years. Bohr was killed less than a week before their anniversary.
Sempers,
Roger
Rest in Peace
By TODD DVORAK
Associated Press Writer
A Camp Pendleton-based Marine killed in Iraq was buried Wednesday after hundreds gathered in towns and along roadsides to watch a funeral procession that stretched from his boyhood church to a Cedar Rapids cemetery.
Gunnery Sgt. Jeff Bohr, 39, died April 10 after being shot twice by a sniper during a street fight with Iraqi forces at a mosque in downtown Baghdad.
Funeral ceremonies were held in Bohr's hometown church in Ossian, his hometown in Iowa's northeast corner. His body was then taken by police escort about 100 miles south along Highway 150 for burial in Cedar Rapids, hometown of his wife Lori.
In small northeastern towns such as Calmar, West Union and Independence, scores of flag-waving students and adults lined the sidewalks or crammed the corners of downtown intersections. A young girl in West Union held a sign that said "God bless the Bohr family."
A dozen patrons of The Zipper bar south of Calmar stepped outside to wave and take pictures.
Buchanan County employees stood outside the courthouse with hands over their hearts, and workers at the State Bank in Maynard took a break from business to step outside and wave to the passing procession.
Families on farms between towns pulled up lawn chairs along the highway's edge. And hundreds of oncoming motorists pulled over and stopped along the gravel shoulder as the procession passed.
Public mourning for Bohr began with more than 500 flag-waving students lining Ossian's main street as Bohr's body made its way Wednesday morning to his boyhood church.
"Freedom is maintained at a price, the price of good citizenship ... and sacrifice of those who serve in the military," said the Rev. Cletus Hawes, of the St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church. "Jeffrey Bohr made that sacrifice in the streets of Baghdad."
His wife, relatives and fellow officers remembered Bohr as a Marine committed to his troops, country and the fight to liberate the Iraqi people.
Bohr, the oldest of five sons, was assigned to the Marines' 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, Alpha Company. In his 20 years of service, Bohr served in many overseas conflicts, including Grenada, Panama, Somalia and Operation Desert Storm.
"He was doing what he wanted to do," said Col. David Bethel, Bohr's commanding officer the past 14 months at Camp Pendleton, Calif. "He had that moral fiber that most of us could only hope to want. He learned it at a young age, from his parents and from the town he grew up in."
More than 600 people and veterans from around the country and northeast Iowa attended the funeral service, which included a 21-gun salute outside the church. Many stayed to have lunch with the family in the St. Francis de Sales school, where Bohr attended grade school.
"It's been quite a shock to the community," said Jane Bosch, a teacher who helped organize the student memorial. "We wanted to honor his life and what he did."
Lori Bohr said her husband would be buried with a new wedding ring she bought for him before he died. The couple had no children and was married for nine years. Bohr was killed less than a week before their anniversary.
Sempers,
Roger
Rest in Peace