Grieving town mourns its fallen hero

MARBLEHEAD -- In droves, residents, friends, and veterans took to the streets of Marblehead's historic downtown, many carrying an American flag.

Business owners closed up shop. Children took a day off from school or camp. Governor Mitt Romney, Senator John F. Kerry, and Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole, paid personal tribute to Army Staff Sergeant Christopher Piper, a Green Beret and the first Marblehead resident killed in combat since Vietnam.

His flag-draped coffin arrived at the Old North Church by hearse and left by horse-drawn caisson.

''I've never seen anything like this," said Matt Christianson of Ashburnham, a friend of the Piper family. ''This is really a show of support."

The mournful wail of bagpipes and drums at the ceremony's onset drowned out a group of antiwar and antigay protesters from Kansas who have been showing up at the funerals of soldiers. Outnumbered by displeased residents, the group of less than a half-dozen was corralled by police and escorted out of town in the car they arrived in. Sounds of applause reverberated inside Old North Church, where hundreds more said good-bye to a fallen soldier they called Pipes.

Among the first US soldiers to invade Afghanistan after the attacks, Piper, a 43-year-old member of the Army's Special Forces, died June 16 at a military hospital in Texas, 12 days after a roadside bomb in Afghanistan wounded him and killed two of his fellow soldiers.

''We will today honor a man who gave his life to his country," the Rev. Raymond Patch told the tearful congregation. Asking mourners to pour out their grief, to face their anger, and to heal their emptiness, Patch also asked for prayers for other fallen soldiers and their families. ''We cannot be here today honoring one and forgetting so many others," he said.

Known to most as a professional warrior, Piper embarked on a military service that often led him to dangerous places, such as Beirut in the 1980s when he first enlisted as a Marine, family and friends said. After serving six years in the Marines, Piper returned to the military after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, serving tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, and earning a Bronze Star for valor in 2003. Yesterday, a Purple Heart was awarded at his burial.

''He was on the front lines of the war on terror before" there was a name for it, said Ernest Piper, Christopher's brother, in an impassioned eulogy.

Gary Conn, one of Piper's old hometown friends, sat quietly sobbing in the pews. Piper's sacrifice was personal, he said.

''My girlfriend, Karen Martin, was on one of the planes on Sept. 11," he said, speaking through tears. ''He told me right after the attacks that he was going back because of people like her. He wanted to avenge her death."

The ceremony ended with a hymn and a prayer.

Piper's coffin was loaded onto the caisson by some members of his unit who had flown in for the ceremony.

And as the horse-drawn carriage rolled slowly to Waterside Cemetery, the crowd of thousands followed on foot.

Members of the Eagle Scouts handed out bottled water as the large procession passed by flag draped houses.

''This is what we do," said Carol Haddock, a lifelong resident holding a large American flag with her friend Pat Brosque. ''We rally together."