- Norman Grindley/Staff Photographer
The remains of Jamaican-born United States Marine, Corporal Bernard Gooden, being carried by fellow U.S. Marines from the Emmanuel Apostolic Church in White Sands, St. Ann, yesterday. His body was interred in the family plot at Wild Cane district.
Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
THE TEARS flowed freely yesterday as hundreds of mourners came out to pay their last respects to Corporal Bernard Brent Gooden, the Jamaican-born United States Marine who died on April 4, during the US-led war in Iraq.
A framed portrait of the smartly attired Gooden in his Marine uniform, was placed on a table near the pulpit, while the casket with his remains was draped with the flag of the United States.
The Emmanuel Apostolic Church in White Sands, St. Ann, where the 22-year-old Marine got baptised nine years ago, was filled to capacity, with scores crammed into the churchyard.
Throughout the funeral service, two U.S. Marines decked out in their uniforms, formed a guard of honour outside the main entrance of the church, where they waited for the casket with the body of their slain colleague.
They took it to the hearse, and on to the family plot in Wild Cane district, where Cpl. Gooden's grandparents were buried.
It was an emotional atmosphere as several of those who came to the pulpit to pay tribute wept in between words, as they remembered Cpl. Gooden during his childhood years.
The slain Marine was hailed as a hero in the Wild Cane district, from which he emigrated to Canada in 1994.
"Brent was not afraid of challenges. He had a vision and a passion to succeed in life. As a lad, he pledged he was going to do something special that would make his family very proud. One of his dreams in life, was to die like an hero and although he never dreamt of dying in a war in Iraq, today we stand tall as we celebrate the life of our youngest hero, Cpl. Bernard Gooden," said Jennifer Brown, who gave the eulogy.
Reports are that he was shot and killed during an ambush three miles south-west of Baghdad. During the many tributes at least three persons proposed that his alma mater Bohemia All Age School be renamed in his honour.
Member of Parliament for the Wild Cane community, Ernest Smith, also proposed that an unfinished community centre in the area be completed and named after the slain Marine. Councillor Winston Brown vowed to take his proposal to the St. Ann Parish Council for them to name one of the Parish Council roads in honour of Cpl. Gooden.
Among those in attendance was a large contingent of officials from the United States Embassy in Kingston, headed by Ambassador Sue Cobb.
