Aaron Seal honored, laid to rest

ELKHART, Ind. — The father of a Marine reservist killed by sniper fire in Iraq told mourners it took all his courage to stand up and speak at his son’s funeral Saturday.

But “it’s nothing compared to the courage my son had,” David Dunn said at the service for his son, Cpl. Aaron Seal, 23. “He is my hero.”

Seal, 23, of Elkhart, was killed Oct. 1 while serving with a South Bend-based Marine Reserve engineering company in Baghdad. The 2001 Elkhart Memorial High School graduate deployed for Iraq about a month ago.

About 500 people attended Seal’s funeral at Calvary Assembly of God church in Elkhart, about 15 miles east of South Bend. An honor guard of Patriot Guard Riders, motorcyclists who attend military funerals, waited outside the church.

Inside, mourners watched photos from Seal’s life flip across a video screen and chuckled as speakers told stories of the young man’s practical jokes.

“I’m going to honor Aaron’s death by trying to be more like him,” said his friend Nate Clark. “He has inspired me to make this world a better place.”

Seal was buried with full military honors at Little Pine Cemetery east of Elkhart. Onlookers listened to a bugler play taps, then flinched as Marines fired a salute.

Back at the church, Dunn had spoken of his son’s tombstone and how a dash was all that separated his son’s date of birth from his date of death.

“Everything you’ve done on earth is that dash,” Dunn said.

From the Courier Journal

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Aaron Seal killed during combat operations