Ohio Holds Last of Marine Funerals (AP)

WEST CHESTER, Ohio - 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.

Semper Fi