heartlvrs
04-13-2003, 09:21 AM
By PATRICE O'SHAUGHNESSY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Martha Holder collapses at funeral of her son, Marine Lance Cpl. William White, in Bushwick yesterday.
In the last letter Marine Lance Cpl. William White sent to his mother, he apologized for making her cry by leaving for Iraq, and pledged, "I'll be back ... Be strong, Mom ... I love you."
The letter was read yesterday at White's funeral in Brooklyn, and at the sight of his coffin being slid into a hearse by a Marine honor guard, his mother's knees buckled and with much effort, she mourned her eldest son.
"Nothing matters now, nothing matters," Martha Holder said as she collapsed into the arms of relatives.
In a Bushwick church near his childhood home, White, 24, was honored as a man whose spirit and strength led him to escape the drugs and gunfire that had taken the lives of so many young men there, only to die in an accident in the theater of war.
Uplifting words and gospel music filled the Elim International Fellowship Church on Madison St., a soaring brick and marble-columned temple. White's American flag-draped casket was at the altar.
White, a radio operator with the 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion of the Marines 1st Division, died March 28 when his Humvee overturned into a canal in what the Defense Department called a nonhostile vehicle accident.
Nonetheless, he was extolled for his courage and for making the ultimate sacrifice.
White was remembered as a disciplined student of martial arts, as well as the Bible. He spent Sundays at church, and also gave of his time to the Franciscan Friary in Brooklyn.
Wanted a family
He was married 18 months ago to Mychaele White at his base at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and they were planning to move back East and start a family when he got home from the Middle East.
White's brother, Charles Holder, 18, had to pause several times as he read White's obituary. White attended Catholic schools, and graduated from Bushwick High School in 1998. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Mark White, who served in the Army in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
"I miss him," said Mychaele White, 23, dressed in a blue spring dress and sandals, with a Navy peacoat shielding her from the intermittent rain outside the church. "I'm overwhelmed by the support of this community."
As the honor guard carried the coffin out, with police officers and firefighters joining Marines in salute, Bryan Holder, 16, the youngest of the three brothers, sobbed as he held a folded blue USMC flag, and the tears streamed harder when he saw his mother crumple in grief.
Originally published on April 13, 2003
http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/733-funeral.JPG
***PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS FAMILY!!!***
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Martha Holder collapses at funeral of her son, Marine Lance Cpl. William White, in Bushwick yesterday.
In the last letter Marine Lance Cpl. William White sent to his mother, he apologized for making her cry by leaving for Iraq, and pledged, "I'll be back ... Be strong, Mom ... I love you."
The letter was read yesterday at White's funeral in Brooklyn, and at the sight of his coffin being slid into a hearse by a Marine honor guard, his mother's knees buckled and with much effort, she mourned her eldest son.
"Nothing matters now, nothing matters," Martha Holder said as she collapsed into the arms of relatives.
In a Bushwick church near his childhood home, White, 24, was honored as a man whose spirit and strength led him to escape the drugs and gunfire that had taken the lives of so many young men there, only to die in an accident in the theater of war.
Uplifting words and gospel music filled the Elim International Fellowship Church on Madison St., a soaring brick and marble-columned temple. White's American flag-draped casket was at the altar.
White, a radio operator with the 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion of the Marines 1st Division, died March 28 when his Humvee overturned into a canal in what the Defense Department called a nonhostile vehicle accident.
Nonetheless, he was extolled for his courage and for making the ultimate sacrifice.
White was remembered as a disciplined student of martial arts, as well as the Bible. He spent Sundays at church, and also gave of his time to the Franciscan Friary in Brooklyn.
Wanted a family
He was married 18 months ago to Mychaele White at his base at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and they were planning to move back East and start a family when he got home from the Middle East.
White's brother, Charles Holder, 18, had to pause several times as he read White's obituary. White attended Catholic schools, and graduated from Bushwick High School in 1998. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Mark White, who served in the Army in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
"I miss him," said Mychaele White, 23, dressed in a blue spring dress and sandals, with a Navy peacoat shielding her from the intermittent rain outside the church. "I'm overwhelmed by the support of this community."
As the honor guard carried the coffin out, with police officers and firefighters joining Marines in salute, Bryan Holder, 16, the youngest of the three brothers, sobbed as he held a folded blue USMC flag, and the tears streamed harder when he saw his mother crumple in grief.
Originally published on April 13, 2003
http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/733-funeral.JPG
***PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS FAMILY!!!***