thedrifter
08-27-09, 08:52 AM
Procession brings home slain Marine
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Gabriel Baird
Plain Dealer Reporter
Garfield Heights- Marsha Gorman did not know Adam Benjamin, the 34-year-old U.S. Marine gunnery sergeant from Garfield Heights killed in combat in Afghanistan last week.
But the Garfield Heights mother went Tuesday to watch the procession as the body of the U.S. Marine was taken from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to a local funeral home to send a message to his family.
"I wanted his parents to see there are people who care for what Adam has done, people who know freedom is not free," she said.
The procession - two police motorcycles, five police cars, six men on motorcycles, the hearse, two limousines and carloads of family and friends - rolled slowly down East 115th Street, where the Benjamin family lives.
Spent paper sack luminaries lined the street from a memorial over the weekend. Flags in front of two homes hung at half-staff.
The Benjamin family's home stood as a testament to pride in their son's service - more than a dozen U.S. flags of varying sizes were posted in the lawn and on the porch along with two Marine Corp flags.
Benjamin enlisted in the Marines after graduating from Garfield Heights High School in 1993. In 2006, he was promoted to gunnery sergeant.
The explosive ordnance disposal technician with the 8th Engineer Support Battalion did tours in Iraq in 2007 and 2008. He was pinned with medals for his service.
A month ago, he returned to combat, this time in Afghanistan. On Aug. 18, he was killed in combat in the Helmand province.
He is the second Garfield Heights native killed in four months. A roadside bomb killed Army Spc. Brad Davis, 21, on April 22.
Benjamin's procession turned onto Turney Road, where Gorman stood beside a sign outside Bonkers Café that read, "RIP Adam Benjamin, True American Hero."
Gorman wiped tears on her shirt as the hearse passed beneath a large U.S. flag held aloft by the extended ladders of two fire trucks.
After the procession passed by, she hugged her son, Dan, who graduated high school with Benjamin.
"His death is not going to go unnoticed," she said. "He laid down his life for us."
News researcher Jo Ellen Corrigan contributed to this story.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
gbaird@plaind.com, 216-999-5833
Ellie
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Gabriel Baird
Plain Dealer Reporter
Garfield Heights- Marsha Gorman did not know Adam Benjamin, the 34-year-old U.S. Marine gunnery sergeant from Garfield Heights killed in combat in Afghanistan last week.
But the Garfield Heights mother went Tuesday to watch the procession as the body of the U.S. Marine was taken from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to a local funeral home to send a message to his family.
"I wanted his parents to see there are people who care for what Adam has done, people who know freedom is not free," she said.
The procession - two police motorcycles, five police cars, six men on motorcycles, the hearse, two limousines and carloads of family and friends - rolled slowly down East 115th Street, where the Benjamin family lives.
Spent paper sack luminaries lined the street from a memorial over the weekend. Flags in front of two homes hung at half-staff.
The Benjamin family's home stood as a testament to pride in their son's service - more than a dozen U.S. flags of varying sizes were posted in the lawn and on the porch along with two Marine Corp flags.
Benjamin enlisted in the Marines after graduating from Garfield Heights High School in 1993. In 2006, he was promoted to gunnery sergeant.
The explosive ordnance disposal technician with the 8th Engineer Support Battalion did tours in Iraq in 2007 and 2008. He was pinned with medals for his service.
A month ago, he returned to combat, this time in Afghanistan. On Aug. 18, he was killed in combat in the Helmand province.
He is the second Garfield Heights native killed in four months. A roadside bomb killed Army Spc. Brad Davis, 21, on April 22.
Benjamin's procession turned onto Turney Road, where Gorman stood beside a sign outside Bonkers Café that read, "RIP Adam Benjamin, True American Hero."
Gorman wiped tears on her shirt as the hearse passed beneath a large U.S. flag held aloft by the extended ladders of two fire trucks.
After the procession passed by, she hugged her son, Dan, who graduated high school with Benjamin.
"His death is not going to go unnoticed," she said. "He laid down his life for us."
News researcher Jo Ellen Corrigan contributed to this story.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
gbaird@plaind.com, 216-999-5833
Ellie