Cpl. Joseph Tremblay

NEWBURGH, N.Y. — A Marine who volunteered for the Reserves so he could join his fellow soldiers in Iraq was remembered Wednesday during a funeral Mass.

Cpl. Joseph Tremblay, 23, of New Windsor, died near Hit, Iraq, when a mine explosion struck his Humvee during a combat patrol April 27, the military said.

“Joseph dutifully gave his life on his tour of duty in Iraq,” the Rev. Bill Scafidi said at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

Tremblay joined the Marines after graduating from Newburgh Free Academy in 1999. He wasn’t deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq during four years of active duty, so he decided to re-enlist as a reservist, his family said.

He wanted to go even though he would be leaving his fiancee and family, which includes a father and brother in New York, and mother and sister in Kentucky.

Cardinal Edward Egan addressed the mourners before the Mass.

“To all who knew and loved him, I extend the heartfelt sympathies of the Archdiocese of New York,” Egan said. “This is a tragic loss of a good young man.”

Tremblay was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserves 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, based in Moundsville, W.Va.

Even some strangers attended the funeral.

“We wanted to go out and show respect for a combat Marine and for the family,” Vietnam veteran John Purcell of Fishkill said. “They gave it all.”

— Associated Press