La. Marine loved Corps and children

By BOB ARDOIN
Special to The Advocate
Published: Dec 31, 2006

OPELOUSAS — An Opelousas man killed earlier this month while on duty with the U.S. Marines in Iraq was remembered at funeral services Saturday as someone whose affable nature concealed his longtime passion for military service.

“He loved the Marine Corps and wanted to be a Marine even before he joined,” said the

Rev. Pete Smith of Lance Cpl. Myles Cody Sebastien, 21. The U.S. Defense Department reported that Sebastien died of wounds suffered while he conducted combat operations in Al Anbar Province.

Sebastien had a reserved nature along with the discipline required for military life, said Smith.

“He had all that without looking stilted,” Smith said.

Because of rainy weather Saturday, scheduled burial services for Sebastien were postponed, said officials of Lafond-Ardoin Funeral Home in Opelousas.

Sebastien will be buried at Bellevue Memorial Cemetery on La. 182 south of Opelousas during a private service at a later date, the officials said.

Military services included the posthumous award of the Purple Heart medal in recognition of Sebastien’s combat wounds.

An honor guard from Lafayette’s Marine Reserve Unit kept watch over Sebastien’s casket.

Sebastien is the third St. Landry Parish serviceman to die in Iraq during combat since 2004.

Army Staff Sgt. Craig Davis, 37, also of Opelousas, was killed Jan. 8, 2004, when his Black Hawk helicopter crashed at Fallujah.

National Guard Staff Sgt. Jonathan Reed, 25, of Krotz Springs was killed in Baghdad Jan. 10, 2005, by a roadside blast that struck his vehicle.

Marine officials in charge of Saturday’s services declined to elaborate on Sebastien’s death.

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Sebastien’s grandmother, Beryl Sebastien, said family members were told at the time that although details were unclear, her grandson died when an explosive device struck the military vehicle in which he was riding.

The Rev. Jeff DeBlanc, who along with Smith, conducted the religious services, said Sebastien was easy to like.

“All who knew him speak of his affability, of his genial smile,” DeBlanc said. “As the years advanced, a great resolve appeared in him and he became determined that he would have to leave his family and friends.

“After that (Sebastien) began displaying the courage, fortitude, valor and responsibility in providing for the common good of community.

“He then lived a life of risk in Iraq where he became a man who did not live for himself and who did not die for himself,” DeBlanc said.

Smith, an Episcopal minister, said Sebastien and his wife, Kelie Arnaud Sebastien, had been married for a year.

Marine Sgt. Steve Miller, was a Marine who Sebastien admired when he joined the military in 2004, following his graduation that year from Opelousas High School, Smith said.

“According to the conversations that I had with Sgt. Miller, Myles was someone who was quite efficient in getting the job done,” Smith said. “Sgt. Miller said Myles had always displayed a good attitude and was someone that was a real team player who was intelligent with a real sense of humor.”

Smith said that after speaking with Marines who served alongside Sebastien in Iraq, he learned that Sebastien was someone who loved the Iraqi children that he met.

“Myles loved the children there. He especially enjoyed throwing Jolly Ranchers to them from his Humvee. He did that despite knowing that the parents of these children might also be terrorists,” Smith said.

In addition to his widow, Sebastien his survived by his parents, Danny and Ramona Sebastien, two sisters and two grandparents.


Ellie