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thedrifter
02-18-09, 01:22 PM
‘It is overwhelming’: Hundreds attend funeral for fallen Marine in Bridgewater
By Jessica Scarpati
Wed Feb 18, 2009, 11:53 AM EST

BRIDGEWATER - Gentle piano music and tearful sniffling were the only sounds in the usually bustling center of town.

Hundreds clamored around Central Square Congregational Church to watch U.S. Marines carry the flag draped coffin of Lance Cpl. Kevin Preach into the church.

Veteran police officers and firefighters stood at salute while dozens of others wiped tears from their eyes and held flags.

Just after 10:30 a.m., mother Laurie Hayes entered the church, flanked by relatives and loved ones, including Preaches girlfriend of two years, Brianna Kelliher.

Gov. Deval Patrick entered the church behind them.

“It goes to here,” said Rhonda Roberts, 63, of West Bridgewater, touching her heart with tears in her eyes as she stood watching the procession.

Dozens of people stood outside the church as a loudspeaker broadcast the funeral service.

Earlier, mourners gathered at Bridgewater common , clutching flags to honor Preach, as they waited for his funeral procession to pass by.

Firefighters from Raynham, and Bridgewater suspended a flag over the procession route on Route 18, using fire tower trucks.

Paul St. Andre, 22, of Brockton, was on his way to class at Bridgewater State College but came early to see the procession.

He said he has friends serving in the military in Iraq.
“I’m not really an emotional person but when I saw the flag, it brought a tear to my eyes,” Andre said.

Bette Stewart, 72, of Bridgewater, stood crying near a memorial set up earlier this week to honor Preach in front of town hall.

She said she didn’t know the Preach family but the young man’s death hit her hard.

“This has knocked me out. It is overwhelming,” she said. “It really is. I just hate war and I don’t like young men losing their lives.”

Preach died on Feb. 7 at Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio from wounds suffered in Afghanistan when the Humvee, in which he was a gunner, was hit by an improvised explosive device on Jan. 24.

Preach was a 2007 graduate of Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School.

Ellie

crazymjb
02-18-09, 05:33 PM
My girlfriend and I were on the detail today. The turnout was incredible. It means a lot that that many people went to support the family. A lot of the Marines said they had never seen a funeral this big. Seemingly the entire town showed up. There must have been thousands of people lining the streets between the funeral home and the church.

His younger brother had just graduated from Parris Island this past week, and I believe is supposed to end up in my reserve unit.

My thoughts are with his family and friends.

Mike

thedrifter
02-19-09, 07:32 AM
Marine motto was his 'way of life'
Serviceman buried in Bridgewater

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | February 19, 2009

BRIDGEWATER - Messages to Kevin T. Preach's family were scattered throughout town yesterday morning, on signs in front of gas stations, restaurants and hotels, and on posterboard held by small children and adults lining his funeral procession route.

About 2,000 mourners stood in silence as a hearse carried Preach's coffin slowly around a rotunda at the town's Central Square. A dozen Marines in dress uniform walked in step alongside the vehicle. The hearse stopped in front of the Central Square Congregational Church, where the flag-draped coffin was lifted out and borne into the church by pallbearers.

Preach, a lance corporal gunner, had died despite a fight to counter massive injuries inflicted by an improvised device that exploded while he was on patrol Jan. 24 in Afghanistan. Preach lost both legs and a hand, and was badly burned. He had been flown to Texas and kept in a medically induced coma until his death earlier this month.

Yesterday, the small church overflowed with mourners. Many watched a TV monitor set up in a room adjoining the sanctuary. Others stood outside, talking about the first Bridgewater resident to die in a war since Vietnam. Since World War I, the town has lost 43 service members.

Inside, Reverend Kristy Coburn told the mourners that all Marines are bound by their motto Semper Fidelis - always faithful.

"You are always faithful," Coburn said. "This was for Kevin a way of life. His own father was a Marine . . . It was as if he had been born to be a Marine." She then addressed the fallen Marine's younger brother, saying, "Danny, your brother is an American hero and, because you wear that uniform, so too are you. You will play your own part in keeping your country free."

The brother, Marine Private Daniel James Preach, talked about how Kevin might have reacted to yesterday's support.

"Looking down at all this, he would probably say 'whaaat!' " Daniel Preach said, drawing laughter from the somber crowd.

Preach then choked up, fighting back tears as he continued.

"If you needed advice, you would go to him. He was the kind of guy to push all his problems aside to help you," he said. "I followed in my brother's footsteps, in football and the Marines. He never let me win at anything, and now I understand, because that made me a better person . . ."

Kevin Preach's girlfriend of two years, Brianna Kelliher, also spoke during the funeral, recounting a mountain climbing trip to New Hampshire that the two went on days before he shipped out to basic training. She said the climbing was arduous, but that Kevin said he would climb to the top of the mountain again if he could find the prettiest flower there to give her.

Ellie