ST. ANNE, Ill. -- The town of St. Anne, Ill., buried Marine Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre Thursday.
Beaupre, a pilot, died March 21 in a helicopter crash in Kuwait, about 9 miles from the Iraqi border. The 30-year-old was among the first U.S. casualties of the war in Iraq.
The funeral service took place at a small Catholic church on the northwestern corner of town. Beaupre was buried with full military honors at St. Anne Catholic Cemetery.
Mourners entered the church under a U.S. flag that was flown atop the Capitol in Washington on March 22.
U.S. flags, most of them at half-staff, were flown from light poles and buildings throughout the town of 1,300.
Wednesday, a Marine honor guard escorted Beaupre's flag-draped coffin through his hometown to a wake at the town's grade school, which closed at noon. Poems and
drawings made by schoolchildren and dedicated to Beaupre lined the
red, white and blue halls.
Beaupre was one of four children of Mark and Nicky Beaupre. He was a graduate of Bishop McNamara High School and Illinois Wesleyan University, and he had been in the Marine Corps since 1995.
Previous Report: March 21: Illinois Marine Killed In Iraq The death of Capt. Beaupre prompted a touching letter from another Marine, Lance Cpl. Daniel Gomez of Chicago
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Beaupre, a pilot, died March 21 in a helicopter crash in Kuwait, about 9 miles from the Iraqi border. The 30-year-old was among the first U.S. casualties of the war in Iraq.
The funeral service took place at a small Catholic church on the northwestern corner of town. Beaupre was buried with full military honors at St. Anne Catholic Cemetery.
Mourners entered the church under a U.S. flag that was flown atop the Capitol in Washington on March 22.
U.S. flags, most of them at half-staff, were flown from light poles and buildings throughout the town of 1,300.
Wednesday, a Marine honor guard escorted Beaupre's flag-draped coffin through his hometown to a wake at the town's grade school, which closed at noon. Poems and
drawings made by schoolchildren and dedicated to Beaupre lined the
red, white and blue halls.
Beaupre was one of four children of Mark and Nicky Beaupre. He was a graduate of Bishop McNamara High School and Illinois Wesleyan University, and he had been in the Marine Corps since 1995.
Previous Report:
March 21: Illinois Marine Killed In Iraq
The death of Capt. Beaupre prompted a touching letter from another Marine, Lance Cpl. Daniel Gomez of Chicago
