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In Memoriam |
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In Memoriam |
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LCpl. Rhonald Rairden
Medina County Marine is honored
Web Posted: 02/06/2005 12:00 AM CST
CASTROVILLE — Rhonald Dain Rairdan was remembered Saturday as a hug-loving warrior, a mischief-maker even in war and a youngster mature beyond his years.
More than 600 people packed St. Louis Catholic Church to honor the 20-year-old Medina County resident who was among 30 U.S. Marines killed Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash outside Baghdad, Iraq. A sailor also died in the crash.
Laughs and sniffles echoed through the ornate church during a simple service that saw Rairdan's family, with love and pride, celebrate him as "a normal kid."
"He was a big guy with a big heart," Kyle Rairdan, 17, said of his only sibling, a lance corporal. "He died doing exactly what he wanted to do all his life. He was a Marine. He died a hero."
The family shared excerpts of letters Rairdan, called Dain by family and friends, wrote on breaks from fighting during the several months he spent in Fallujah.
"I am making my way home very soon, safely to my family," the machine gunner known to comrades in the 1st Marine Division as "The Texas Rattlesnake" wrote in a Jan. 19 letter.
In the same missive to his mother, Kimberly, he discussed taking gunpowder from bullets to make fireworks and revealed his intention to re-enlist and pursue a job as a tank operator or sniper.
Boredom seemed a bigger worry than the enemy to Rairdan, who wrote, "Man, I need a hug, Mom." He signed the letter, "Your Pooh Bear."
In a letter to his father, Rairdan seemed to relish fighting in the insurgent stronghold, saying, "Seeing the enemy up close is cool."
His company, which lost 23 members in Fallujah, was headed home after a final mission — to safeguard polling sites for the historic Jan. 30 Iraqi elections.
The unit was flying to its new post when the heavily loaded CH-53E Super Stallion crashed. Six Texans were among the 31 troops killed.
"You honor us by coming here today," Rairdan's father, David, an Air Force retiree, told the mix of military and civilian mourners.
Air Force personnel helped raise Rairdan as the family moved from base to base, he said, and the locals were equally hospitable when the family settled here eight years ago.
The final speaker, Chaplain David Kirk of the U.S. Naval Reserves, said in recent days he's come to know Rairdan as a fun-loving man of compassion who'd found his purpose in life.
"This man gave his life doing what he loved, helping others experience the liberty and freedom with which he grew up and lived," Kirk said. All aboard the ill-fated helicopter held bright promise, he said, but "death hijacked the day."
Many students from Medina Valley High School, from which Rairdan graduated in 2003, were among those gathered before his flag-draped casket, military portrait and uniform.
ROTC Cadet Travis Shumate knew Rairdan, who was highly decorated in the program, by reputation only.
"My prayers are with his family," said Shumate, 14.
As the church bells tolled and Rairdan's childhood friends placed his casket in a hearse, scores of local residents assembled along U.S. 90 to show their respect as the funeral procession headed for Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
"I feel sorry for a 20-year-old person to leave the Earth in that situation," said Silverio Fuentes, 56, holding a small American flag. "It brings tears to my eyes."