LCpl. Jeffery Lam (NCD)

(reprinted from the Queens Chronicle, November 18, 2004)

Bayside Marine Laid To Rest In Traditional Chinese Ceremony

As Buddhist priests chanted prayers and lit incense, hundreds of mourners gathered on Monday at the Chun Fook Funeral Home in Flushing to say their last good-byes to Lance Corporal Jeffrey Lam, killed in Iraq a week earlier.
   A member of the Marine Reserves, Lam, 22, of Bayside, died in a non-combat accident in Al Anbar Province when the vehicle he was in overturned. Although the military would not release details, it is believed that the local man was one of two Marines who drowned when their bulldozer overturned into the Euphrates River. The son of immigrants who speak little English, Lam was a student at Pace University, studying information technology. He met his wife while at Pace and they were married in June 2003. The couple had a daughter,Teri, three months ago.
   Family members remember Lam as patriotic, someone who wanted to make a difference. He joined the Reserves four years ago and was assigned to the 6th Communications Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group out of Brooklyn. Lam left for Iraq in September.
   He was the youngest of three children. His mother is a seamstress and his father is a chef. His brother, Anthony, two years older, said how much Jeffrey enjoyed playing video games and that he had matured when he had gotten married and became a father.
   At the funeral, his widow, dressed in black with a black veil, had to be held up by her sister-in-law, Annette. As part of the ceremony, immediate family members circled the wooden coffin several times as the priests intoned their prayers and then bowed three times.
   There were candles, incense and a bowl of oranges in front of the casket. A large blown-up color photograph of Lam in his Marine uniform was framed and surrounded by a black ribbon and bow.
   The two Buddhist priests, dressed in saffron and yellow robes, chanted soothing prayers while using bells and a drum-like instrument for accompaniment. Additional mourners came in groups to bow and pay their respects.
   Several elderly veterans went up together to the coffin as did members of the Chinese-American Military Family Association, a group organized in Flushing last year. They assist families with children serving in Iraq. The Marine’s parents are members.
   The open casket had a Marine honor guard that was changed periodically during the ceremony. Lam was dressed in his uniform, an American flag at his head.
   Busloads of Marines paid their respects as did active members of the Army and Navy and local police officials.
   After the Buddhist priests finished their chanting, tape-recorded music of “Amazing Grace” and other numbers were piped in while mourners proceeded to pay their respects.
   Each mourner who entered the service received a white silk carnation to wear. The room where Lam was laid out was filled with large floral wreaths, all bearing inscriptions in Chinese on white ribbons. As the service progressed, it became standing room only for mourners.
   A graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, Lam and his family lived in the Oakland Gardens section of Bayside.
   A battalion of Marines accompanied the body to Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens, where there was a 21-gun salute and Taps was played.
   Lam is the fifth Queens soldier to die in Iraq and the second in a month. On October 10th, Pfc. James Prevete, 22, of Whitestone, died when his military vehicle crashed due to poor weather conditions.
   The others include Specialist Roger Ling, 20, of Douglaston, when his convoy was hit by an enemy bomb in February; Marine Corporal Robert Rodriguez, 21, of Maspeth, when his tank came under artillery fire and plunged off a bridge in March 2003, and Specialist Wilfredo Perez Jr., 24, of Ridgewood, killed in July 2003 during a grenade attack on a children’s hospital.