HOMELAND: Marine's life touched many
Bruce Olin
07:38 AM MST on Monday, April 26, 2004
By Carol Ann Alaimo / Arizona Daily Star
http://www.fox11az.com/news/local/stories/KMSB_local_marine_042604.16251b315.html
In life, Tasha Shephard never met Lance Cpl. Robert Zurheide Jr., the first
Tucsonan killed in combat in Iraq.
On Sunday, she stood near the graveside of the 20-year-old Marine, clutching
a white chrysanthemum and crying as he was laid to rest.
"He was so young. He didn't even have a chance to live his life yet," said
Shephard, 19, an East Side resident whose 19-year-old boyfriend is also a
Marine serving in Iraq.
Shephard was one of hundreds of Tucsonans from across the city and across
the generations who turned out to say goodbye to Zurheide, whose wife is
nine months pregnant with the couple's first child.
Elena Zurheide wept through much of the service and cradled her belly with
both hands as fellow Marines folded the flag on her husband's casket in an
age-old military tradition.
Navy Chaplain Will Tilley, who presided over the service, didn't pretend to
have any easy answers for the mourners. He began the graveside prayer with a
plaintive question for God.
"Father, what can we say in connection with this loss?" Tilley asked. "There
is so much we don't understand."
Richard Hernandez, director of South Lawn Mortuary, which handled the
funeral, said the family "is having an extremely difficult time" coming to
grips with the loss.
He called Zurheide "a local hero" and described him as a spirited person who
"would not have wanted us to be sad.
"He was a young man full of life and humor, and he committed his life to a
worthy cause. He would have wanted us to rejoice in his service," Hernandez
said.
Marine Staff Sgt. Isaul Montez, Zurheide's platoon commander during their
first stint in Iraq last year, said Zurheide was often a source of "comic
relief" to his buddies, even in a war zone.
"He loved to joke around. When things were getting serious, he could make a
wisecrack to lighten everything up." Montez said after the service.
Zurheide, who died April 12, was buried with full military honors including
a rifle salute. His coffin arrived at the cemetery in a glass-enclosed
carriage drawn by a pair of white horses.
A cage full of white birds, released at the end of the service, fluttered
into the blue sky and swooshed over the veterans' section of the cemetery
where Zurheide will rest with scores of other Tucsonans killed in various
wars.
Organizers estimated the turnout at 250 to 300 people. The crowd included
local veterans, old schoolmates and many strangers.
"I came to show my love," said South Side resident Patricia Cannon, 47, who
also did not know Zurheide but wanted to show support for his family.
"Every time I hear we lost another one, it breaks my heart," said Cannon.
"This is one from home, so I can come and be with the family and let them
know I appreciate their sacrifice."
Lyle Steeber, 65, of the Northwest Side, said he came because he empathizes
with how awful Zurheide's family must feel.
"My grandson is the same age, and it could have been him," said Steeber.
"It's a sad thing that's happening in Iraq right now, but I think it's
something that has to be done."
Some said the funeral made them wonder anew what the Iraq war is achieving
and whether it will be worth the price paid by hundreds of American
families.
"People keep dying over there, and it doesn't seem like anything's
happening," to turn things around, said Shephard, the 19-year-old mourner
who brought flowers for Zurheide's grave.
Air Force veteran Vincent Jiron, 67, a South Side resident who served in the
Korean War, said he came to show solidarity with Zurheide and all combat
troops past and present.
"When you're in the service, you all serve for the same purpose. Even though
I was lucky, he paid the ultimate price," Jiron said.
Zurheide is one of six service members with ties to Southern Arizona who
have died in accidents or from hostile fire in Iraq.