Family, friends salute Murfreesboro Marine killed in Iraq (J.D. Hirlston)

With a piper playing "Amazing Grace," a Marine honor guard performed a 21-gun salute Thursday for a fallen comrade who touched the lives of family, friends and people he didn't even know.

Lance Cpl. J.D. Hirlston, 21, of Murfreesboro was buried Thursday in Roselawn Memorial Gardens with full military honors.

"I never met (Lance Cpl. Hirlston); I didn't have to," said Ron Hammett, who rode his Harley-Davidson motorcycle to Murfreesboro from Hazel Green, Ala., to attend the service.

Larry Hancock, who had ridden in from Stevenson, Ala., echoed Hammett's sentiment.

"This is about respect for our fallen soldiers, our fallen heroes," Hancock said.

Hirlston was part of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force. He joined in June 2005 and was deployed to Iraq in December 2005.

He was killed during combat operations Aug. 23 in the Al Anbar province.

He was the second youngest of a large family, most of whom live in Rutherford County. His father and stepmother, James and Melvina Hirlston, live in Rockvale, and his mother, Judy Hirlston, lives in Nashville.

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