thedrifter
07-12-09, 07:25 AM
Marine remembered
By Mark Millican
Dalton Daily Citizen
July 11, 2009 10:18 pm
— ADAIRSVILLE — The Rev. Steve Morrow recalled the time when Ric Sharp — the father of fallen U.S. Marine Charles Seth Sharp — told him he had received a letter from his son in Iraq requesting crayons and coloring books.
“I said to myself, ‘That’s a weird request coming from a Marine.’ But then Ric told me he wanted them for the children there,” he shared with several hundred mourners while eulogizing Sharp on Saturday at Northpointe Church. “Seth didn’t just die for his country, he died for those children in Iraq also.”
Lance Cpl. Sharp, 20, who was born in Dalton and attended Pleasant Grove Elementary before moving to Adairsville in 2000, was killed in action on July 2 in Afghanistan while his unit was fighting in Operation Strike of the Sword, a surge intended to rid the Helmand Valley in southern Afghanistan of the Taliban. At his funeral, a lone Marine lance corporal stood guard motionlessly in a dress blue uniform beside the flag-draped coffin. After the church filled almost as quietly, he was joined by a woman Marine. They both saluted slowly before leaving Sharp in the hands of the officiants.
“He told his mother (Angela), ‘It’s different in Iraq,’” said the Rev. Randy Gulledge. “‘We sleep on the ground and in the woods.’ His mother asked him if there was anything she could send him and he replied, ‘Don’t send much because I can’t carry it. All I have is on my back.’”
Morrow said after his tour of duty in Iraq Sharp began “putting foolish things aside — he started a serious relationship with his sweetheart, Katie (McMahan). After Seth was killed, she received a letter from him telling her that he loved her and he felt blessed to have her in his family.”
Sharp left Adairsville High School — which bid him goodbye on its message board along the funeral route — at age 17 so he could join the Marines. The Rev. Doug Hasty said becoming a Marine was a dream of his since he turned 15. Sharp served with Company E of the 2nd Battalion/8th Marine Regiment of the Second Marine Division stationed in Camp Lejeune, N.C. He had only been on the ground in Afghanistan six weeks.
Outside on a bright summer day, approximately 200 motorcycles with Patriot Guard Riders — who go and stand at the funerals of soldiers and Marines who have fallen in battle — accompanied Sharp along Old Highway 41 to East View Cemetery. Thousands of community residents lined the road all the way into town, standing respectfully while holding American flags and placing their hands over their hearts. Law enforcement, firefighters and emergency personnel also stood guard for the cavalcade.
Sharp was buried with full military honors. After a 21-gun salute, flyovers by troop transport helicopters preceded the haunting rendition of “Taps.” The Marine Honor Guard folded the flag off Sharp’s casket crisply and precisely before presenting it to his mother in front of hundreds of teary-eyed onlookers.
“I came to show my support,” said Janice Mahan, who had driven up from Norcross and whose son is a Marine training in California for desert warfare. “I did it to show how much I appreciate (Sharp) making the ultimate sacrifice for his family and for his country.”
Cindy Thurman, whose husband is a Marine sergeant serving in Afghanistan, drove over from Winder.
“I came here today to join with all these people to tell the family, ‘We love you, we love you,’ and if you have any kind of need, we’ll do that for you,” she said. “It looks like this community is going to be taking care of that, but we’ll be keeping the family in our prayers.”
Sharp and McMahan (of Dalton) had not set a date to be married. His father said he planned to enroll in college after his release from the Marines in June of 2010.
“He had his goals all set and knew what he wanted to do,” said Ric Sharp a few days after his son was killed.
Ellie
By Mark Millican
Dalton Daily Citizen
July 11, 2009 10:18 pm
— ADAIRSVILLE — The Rev. Steve Morrow recalled the time when Ric Sharp — the father of fallen U.S. Marine Charles Seth Sharp — told him he had received a letter from his son in Iraq requesting crayons and coloring books.
“I said to myself, ‘That’s a weird request coming from a Marine.’ But then Ric told me he wanted them for the children there,” he shared with several hundred mourners while eulogizing Sharp on Saturday at Northpointe Church. “Seth didn’t just die for his country, he died for those children in Iraq also.”
Lance Cpl. Sharp, 20, who was born in Dalton and attended Pleasant Grove Elementary before moving to Adairsville in 2000, was killed in action on July 2 in Afghanistan while his unit was fighting in Operation Strike of the Sword, a surge intended to rid the Helmand Valley in southern Afghanistan of the Taliban. At his funeral, a lone Marine lance corporal stood guard motionlessly in a dress blue uniform beside the flag-draped coffin. After the church filled almost as quietly, he was joined by a woman Marine. They both saluted slowly before leaving Sharp in the hands of the officiants.
“He told his mother (Angela), ‘It’s different in Iraq,’” said the Rev. Randy Gulledge. “‘We sleep on the ground and in the woods.’ His mother asked him if there was anything she could send him and he replied, ‘Don’t send much because I can’t carry it. All I have is on my back.’”
Morrow said after his tour of duty in Iraq Sharp began “putting foolish things aside — he started a serious relationship with his sweetheart, Katie (McMahan). After Seth was killed, she received a letter from him telling her that he loved her and he felt blessed to have her in his family.”
Sharp left Adairsville High School — which bid him goodbye on its message board along the funeral route — at age 17 so he could join the Marines. The Rev. Doug Hasty said becoming a Marine was a dream of his since he turned 15. Sharp served with Company E of the 2nd Battalion/8th Marine Regiment of the Second Marine Division stationed in Camp Lejeune, N.C. He had only been on the ground in Afghanistan six weeks.
Outside on a bright summer day, approximately 200 motorcycles with Patriot Guard Riders — who go and stand at the funerals of soldiers and Marines who have fallen in battle — accompanied Sharp along Old Highway 41 to East View Cemetery. Thousands of community residents lined the road all the way into town, standing respectfully while holding American flags and placing their hands over their hearts. Law enforcement, firefighters and emergency personnel also stood guard for the cavalcade.
Sharp was buried with full military honors. After a 21-gun salute, flyovers by troop transport helicopters preceded the haunting rendition of “Taps.” The Marine Honor Guard folded the flag off Sharp’s casket crisply and precisely before presenting it to his mother in front of hundreds of teary-eyed onlookers.
“I came to show my support,” said Janice Mahan, who had driven up from Norcross and whose son is a Marine training in California for desert warfare. “I did it to show how much I appreciate (Sharp) making the ultimate sacrifice for his family and for his country.”
Cindy Thurman, whose husband is a Marine sergeant serving in Afghanistan, drove over from Winder.
“I came here today to join with all these people to tell the family, ‘We love you, we love you,’ and if you have any kind of need, we’ll do that for you,” she said. “It looks like this community is going to be taking care of that, but we’ll be keeping the family in our prayers.”
Sharp and McMahan (of Dalton) had not set a date to be married. His father said he planned to enroll in college after his release from the Marines in June of 2010.
“He had his goals all set and knew what he wanted to do,” said Ric Sharp a few days after his son was killed.
Ellie