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Aug 20, 11:48 PM EDT

Ohio Holds Last of Marine Funerals

By DAN SEWELL
Associated Press Writer

WEST CHESTER, Ohio (AP) -- As the 2-month-old son he never met quietly
mouthed a pacifier, Marine Sgt. David Kreuter was remembered Saturday as
a fun-loving adventurer, passionate about both the military and his family.

"I promise you, Christian will know you every day of his life and how
much you love him," Kreuter's wife, Chrystina, wrote to him in a letter
read by the Rev. Tim Williams. "You paid the ultimate sacrifice to
protect him."

Hundreds of mourners, many of them veterans and military parents, came
to Tri-County Baptist Church for the funeral that capped eight days of
vigils and memorials for five southwest Ohio Marines killed in an Aug. 3
roadside explosion in Iraq. They were among 16 Ohio-based Marines who
had been killed within days of one another.

Kreuter, 26, was posthumously promoted from corporal on Saturday.

"He will live on through Christian and he will live on through
Chrystina, and through all of his family and all of his friends and
through his fellow Marines," said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio.

Marine Brig. Gen. Douglas Stone met with Kreuter's family before the
service. Kreuter's mother, Pat, said she asked Stone to relay a message
to President Bush that her son supported him.

Kreuter was remembered for an outgoing, mischievous spirit that led
fellow Marines to nickname him Stifler, after a character in the
"American Pie" movies.

When he was asked what time it was, friends said, Kreuter would announce
loudly, "It's go time!"

A former Boy Scout and track and cross-country runner, the 1997 St.
Xavier High School graduate joined the Reserves in 1998. He attended
Ohio University and earned his bachelor's degree in criminal justice in
2004 from the University of Cincinnati.

"David wanted to do the toughest thing there is, and the Marines
represented that," said his godfather, Norm Clarke.

Kreuter was taken for burial at Spring Grove Cemetery.

Lance Cpl. Christopher Dyer, 19, of Evendale, who was eulogized in a
memorial service Wednesday, is to be buried Monday at Arlington National
Cemetery in Virginia.

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