Thursday, 4:30 PM
Army sergeant mourned in Hyannis
By Megan Tench, Globe Staff
HYANNIS -- More than 100 friends, relatives, and officials gathered today to mourn a Cape Cod soldier whose widow is expecting the couple's first child in April.
Alexander Fuller, a 21-year-old sergeant in the 61st Cavalry Regiment, was killed by a roadside bomb near Baghdad on Jan. 25. He joined the Army in October 2004, just before he was married, and deployed to Iraq a year later, just after his widow, Anastacia, became pregnant.
The memorial Mass at St. Xavier Francis Church lasted more than an hour and ended with the singing of "America the Beautiful." Governor Deval Patrick led the officials who attended.
Fuller's brother, Zack, fondly remembered him. "I can't tell you the number of bad days I had when Al would say, 'Need a hug?' Well, Al I need one now," he said through tears.
Friends and relatives have described him as a skilled boxer who briefly played high school football. He dropped out of high school, but earned his equivalency degree and saw the Army as a way to get ahead.
