Marine Lance Cpl. Kurt E. Dechen
24,
of Springfield, Vt.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 25th Marine
Regiment, 4th Marine Division, while attached to Regimental Combat Team
5, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Aug. 3 of
wounds sustained while conducting combat operations in Anbar province,
Iraq.
From the Burlington Free Press
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kurt Dechen fulfilled his last obligation to his country Friday, coming home to a hero's funeral before being laid to rest in the shade of a maple tree, far from the dusty streets of Iraq where he died.
A Marine Corps honor squad fired 21 shots into the summer air and a bugler played taps before the American flag was removed from his coffin, precisely folded and presented to Dechen's parents, Richard and Dale Dechen, by a fellow Marine who expressed the thanks of a grateful nation.
Dechen was killed by small arms fire Aug. 3 -- his 24th birthday -- while on foot patrol in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.
Hundreds of mourners packed the First Congregational Church to pay their respects, some listening in tears as Dechen was described as a man who loved people, Corvettes and sports but embraced his obligation as a Marine to the country and the world.
"He had the demeanor of a man dedicated to a duty that he knew would take him into the heart of danger," said the Rev. William Nelson. "But those who knew him knew that beneath the very real dignity and the very real presence of this man was another man filled with fun, with warmth and friendly gestures toward all he met," Nelson said...
The hourlong service also featured the reading -- at Dechen's parents' request -- of a letter written last month by a fellow Marine who served with Dechen in Iraq.
The letter, which was read by Marine Sgt. Zachary Britt, spoke of the duty felt by Marines and other warriors who have undertaken the job of protecting their nation.
"It's a chore that can't be understood by those who don't do it. Some of you may think you do, but believe me, you never will. For any veteran can look in the eyes of another and see it. No words need be spoken," Britt said, reading the letter to a hushed congregation in the white-steepled church.
"Kurt was one of these," Nelson said later. "And we remember him this day."
But he was more than a warrior, Nelson said.
"One could not know Kurt for long without being struck, I believe, by his care for others and his thoroughness, his ability to notice people and to show that," Nelson said. "He noticed those who were great, and he never lost sight of the whole, which included lesser mortals than the great."
We honor his service and his life on Memorial Day and always.
