Marine's inner light will live on, family says 400 at services for Gregory's Michael W. Hanks

News Staff Reporter

The father of a Livingston County Marine killed last week during a firefight in Fallujah, Iraq, said his son had "a light that shined inside him like a beacon that drew others to him."

Michael Lee Hanks of Gregory, the father of U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Michael Wayne Hanks, made the comments during his son's funeral service Wednesday at the Brighton Church of the Nazarene in Genoa Township. He was killed Nov. 17.

"I knew that light - that love - that Mike had would live on," his father said to the crowd of nearly 400 people who had come to the to pay their last respects. Michael Lee Hanks gave one of two eulogies. A U.S. Marine color guard gave the fallen Marine a 21-gun salute and his parents were presented with the U.S. flag that had been draped over his coffin.

"The last words he spoke to me were, 'I love you, dad,"' the senior Hanks said the previous evening after a long day of finalizing funeral arrangements and greeting friends and relatives.

"He was an easy kid to like; he was a people person," said his mother, Karen Hanks. "Mike always brought joy and laughter to the room, wherever he was," said his mother.

The 22-year-old Hanks, who was single, served in Iraq last year, received a commendation for saving the life of an Iraqi civilian and signed up for another tour of duty.

"He wanted to dance to the beat of a different drum," Karen Hanks said of her son's aspirations.

According to his parents, Hanks had a large circle of friends and loved sports, playing baseball starting with T-ball in kindergarten up to the Fowlerville High School freshman team. He also competed on the freshman wrestling team, and loved the outdoors.

"He liked to fish, he liked to hunt," his father said, recounting the pair's occasional outings.

During the funeral service, Hanks' father read from e-mails sent after his son's death by fellow soldiers.

He "had a great sense of humor to keep the guys in good spirits, regardless of the situation," said one message. Another said Hanks "loved children" and that he and a couple of others in his unit had "adopted" an Iraqi child.

The senior Hanks recited scripture that says, "No greater love has any man than one who lays down his life for a friend." He then referred to another biblical verse, in which Christ commands people to love one another, saying his son had accomplished both.

"I would like to think that in doing his duty he carried out all those commands to the best of his ability," his father said.

The Rev. Gary Slusher of the Southwest Church of the Nazarene in Gregory, who led the service, said life is not fair, but that does not mean God does not love us.

"There are times in our lives when we just don't have good answers (and) this is one of these times," he said.

Slusher said tragedy had also struck his own life several times. One of those tragic incidents took the life of his 27-year-old son, like Hanks a Marine, who was killed in a noncombat accident. "Had it been within my power, I would have gladly traded my life for his," Slusher said to the hushed audience.

"Michael has made the ultimate sacrifice," Slusher said. "He died so that you and I can go to sleep with certainty that the nation is secure, and we must never forget that."

It was announced at the funeral that Hanks received the Purple Heart "for wounds received in action Nov. 17 leading to his death." The posthumous medal is given only to soldiers who have died as a direct result of "enemy action," according to a spokesman at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where Hanks was stationed.

Hanks is survived by his parents and grandparents; a sister, Melissa Gladstone; brother, C.J. Hanks; and several nieces and cousins.