Conclusion

Tuesday was the Marine's funeral. I found out about it from his father Monday when he and his family came in to thank me for my first article. That meant a lot.

For what it's worth, here's my follow up, posted because, well, I don't know — because I'm too tired to talk about anything else; because I thought it appropriate to wrap up his story in this space; because it's an interesting example of how emotionally moving events can sometimes fail to coalesce nicely into a worthy story.

Since there wasn't a whole lot new to report about the situation, it meant I had to get creative in a hurry to fill the gaps. That's tough, especially when you have to write about half of it in the car while riding back to Temple from Dallas.

The end is the biggest disappointment for me. I didn't really capture the scene at the cemetery. Well, that's life on a daily deadline. Pictures from the cemetery (after the ceremony) coming in the next day or two. An impressive place.

>(Preface: Across Texas it's been raining pretty solid all week long, causing flooding in a lot of areas. Earlier Tuesday, before we got there, storms blew in with winds so strong that they literally tumped over three semis on the highway we were on.)

By MATT WRIGHT
Under a misty gray sky, rain fell steadily Tuesday morning, the drops pooling on the surface of an already saturated earth.

The rain fell on the uncovered heads of those who had come to pay their respects. It fell on the flat white hats of Marines standing at attention in full dress uniform.

And it fell on the casket, draped in an American flag, of Lance Cpl. Louis W. Qualls as six of his fellow Marines lifted it into the back of a white hearse.

Funeral services for Qualls, 20, a Temple native who was killed during operations in Iraq last week, were Tuesday in Temple. He was buried in Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery on Tuesday afternoon.

Qualls, a lifelong Temple resident and 2002 graduate of Temple High School, died Nov. 16 as a result of enemy action in Iraq, the Department of Defense reported Friday. His father Gary said last week that Louis was shot and killed while conducting door-to-door sweeps in search of insurgents in Fallujah.

A Marine reservist, Qualls was in the process of transferring to the Army’s Special Forces division when he was called up to active duty last summer. He trained as a radio communications specialist and was working in Iraq as a truck driver, in addition to his participation in the offensive to control the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

Qualls was buried with full military honors and awarded a Purple Heart Medal, which was presented to his father at the morning service.

Services began at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in West Temple on Tuesday morning.

The church service was marked by the variety of people Louis had touched during his short but accomplished life.

“As I look out on the gallery, I am convinced that this young man we are honoring was truly loved, admired and respected,” said Lascelles McCarthy, a family friend who delivered the eulogy.

McCarthy was Qualls’ Tae Kwon Do instructor for the last decade, and guided him as he got his black belt and became a Junior Olympic champion.

The gallery in front of McCarthy was dotted with a variety of uniforms.

There were the Marines he served with - from the 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Division, based in Grand Prairie - as well as those of older veterans from other branches who had come to pay their respects. His martial arts classmates were dressed in traditional uniforms in honor of their former sparring partner. And his younger brother David, a sophomore at Temple High School, wore his Air Force ROTC uniform - just as his brother did when he was a leader in the program.

Even until the end of his life, Qualls was reaching out to others, said Capt. Javier Hinojosa, his commander in the communications unit.

“Some people may think of Louis as a patriot, but to me Lance Cpl. Qualls was so much more,” he said.

“He gave his life not only ensuring our freedom but fighting to give people of another land the same freedoms we so often take for granted.”

After the ceremony, Qualls was remembered by family, friends and colleagues for two things especially: his dedication and his smile.

“No matter what anybody said to him, he was always motivated,” said Shirley Gomez, a close friend who graduated with Qualls in 2002. “That’s what I loved about Louis - no matter what anybody said to him, he was never down, never discouraged.”

Even in positions of authority, Qualls remained good-natured, said Lauren Tittsworth, who was two years behind Qualls in the high school ROTC program.

“He was always smiling. He was always encouraging,” she said.

None of that changed in the Marines.

“One of the great things about Marines is that we will accept anyone who is willing to give 110 percent, and Louis did just that,” Hinojosa said.

“I never did hear him complain about anything - except maybe the MREs. But that was just the type of person he was.”

Qualls joined the military in large part to follow in the footsteps of his father, who served 10 years in the Army and National Guard. Confident in what he wanted, friends said, he enlisted in the Marines with his father’s blessing and officially joined on his 18th birthday, June 25, 2002.

His father, who read a poem at the service honoring his son called “Window Wars,” said last week he could not be more proud of his son’s decision to enlist or the sacrifice he made.

Temple High School made a special effort to honor that sacrifice after the service. Before heading toward Dallas, Qualls’s funeral procession made a special pass by Temple High School, outside of which more than 200 members of the Air Force ROTC stood in ranks and saluted the fallen soldier.

The procession continued on to DFW National Memorial Cemetery, where sunlight was just beginning to streak through a dissipating overcast sky. The burial service took place under a small pavilion that overlooks the cemetery.

As his casket passed, Marines from Qualls’s battalion raised a slow, precise salute in unison. From an overlook just above the pavilion, Marines honored Qualls with a 21-gun salute and the performance of “Taps.”

After the blessing by the chaplain, Gary Qualls was presented with the flag adorning his son’s casket. His mother, Alisa Kelley, of Jacksonville, Ark., also received a folded American flag, both of which the parents cradled to their chests as they wept quietly.

When the service ended, the mourners quietly comforted the family before heading back to their cars.

And in a storybook-like twist, the sun broke through the clouds, marking the beginning of a few hours of calm, before storms again swept across North Texas on Tuesday night.