North Attleborough mourns fallen Marine

Globe photo by Wendy Maeda
Megan Van De Giesen (rear), wife of the Captain Kyle Van De Giesen, at the funeral today.
NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH -- Thousands of mourners clutched small American flags today as they lined sidewalks, standing among the yellow ribbons along Main Street and massing in front of the local high school.
The crowd came out for the funeral of Captain Kyle Van De Giesen, a 29-year-old Marine helicopter pilot killed last week in a crash in Afghanistan. The hearse was escorted in the bitter cold this morning by a phalanx of motorcyclists.
More than 2,000 people packed St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church for a service steeped in military tradition and Catholic ritual. Governor Deval Patrick was among those who attended the funeral Mass.
While few in the sanctuary held back tears, the service set an uplifting tone, focusing how Van De Giesen lived and not how he died. He was remembered as a man dedicated to both the Marines and his family, which includes an 18-month-old daughter, Avery Grace, and a wife, Megan, who is pregnant with his son.
"He was a friend of mine," said Captain Michael Rozzetti, one of two Marines who spoke during the Mass. "A brother in arms, we served together."
Rozzetti then read from a letter written by the Marine's father, Calvin Van De Giesen, to his son after he died in the crash.
"You're my heart, you're my soul," the father wrote. "You're my son."
Van De Giesen died in the crash Oct. 26. He also leaves his mother, Ruth Ann, two brothers, Christian and Ryan, and a sister, Caitlin, all of North Attleborough. A private burial service will be held afterward in the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne.
Also today, Captain Eric Jones, 29, a Marine killed in the same collision between two helicopters will be remembered at a wake in Mashpee. Jones grew up in Westchester, N.Y., and was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California. His parents now live in Mashpee.
Sounding Off

Columnist
Yvonne Abraham finds that Maria Dickerson has guardian angels. Read more
|
|

Recent stories from the MetroDesk


Features

Editor's Choice

Immigrants take to Malden

Brushed by the spirit
- Gun permits surge in state
- Old soldiers reunited in nursing home
- Ticket scalpers mar free ice skating at Fenway
- Historic Old South clock is ticking again

From Today's Globe
- Prosecutors say former Mass. House speaker, others had ‘classic scheme’ to defraud
- Science, fear vie in fight over breast screening
- Father and son die in 1 of 18 fires
- Suffolk prosecutors record 95 percent conviction rate
- From campuses of MIT and Harvard to chambers of City Hall, Cheung a new Cantabrigian

MORE BLOGS

LOCAL BLOGS
Universal Hub
The Chinatown Blog
CommonWealth Magazine
Red Mass Group
Blue Mass Group
Boston 1775
The Berkeley Beacon
The Daily Collegian
The Daily Free Press
The Harvard Crimson
The Heights
The Huntington News
The Suffolk Journal
The Tech
The Tufts Daily






