Howard March remembered, laid to rest

They laid Marine Lance Cpl. Howard S. March Jr. to rest on a soggy day Wednesday, after his longtime pastor gave him a rousing send-off and answered the main question that might have been on mourners' minds.
Why?

Why would a 20-year-old man who had accomplished so much, one of "our best and brightest," the kid with the wide smile, be taken away so suddenly? March was killed Sept. 24 in combat in Iraq.

Pastor Matthew L. Brown of Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ borrowed from the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"He said longevity has its place," Brown told about 350 people packed into New Mount Ararat Temple of Prayer on Jefferson Avenue. "We would all love to live a long time. But can I ask you: What's the purpose of living a long life without purpose?"

Howard March's life had a purpose, Brown said repeatedly.

"Howard says life is worth living, and there are principles worth dying for and that "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,' " Brown told the mourners.

This was a celebration of life. While tears trickled down many cheeks during the emotional 90-minute service, beads of sweat flowed down Brown's face as he whipped the crowd into a foot-stomping, hand-clapping frenzy.

And Brown, during his 26-minute eulogy, left a huge message for today's youth.

So many kids are slaughtered on inner-city streets, over nothing more than a pair of sneakers, a piece of jewelry or some drugs, Brown said.

"Wasting their precious blood on the streets is nonsense. You cannot reconcile the deaths of our young high school dropouts," he said, his voice rising to a crescendo. "But I can reconcile a young man who graduated from high school, who believed in his country, who enlisted and who served his country.

"Don't die without your purpose being fulfilled."

Brown talked about the Howard March he knew, a young man who often was publicly quiet but privately jovial, a deep thinker. A young man who liked to rib others and then would get "ribbed on" himself. A young man who loved the camera, as evidenced by all the smiling photos on the back of the funeral program.

Before the service, Brown watched in awe as the Marines brought March's flag-draped coffin into the church, with all their pomp, circumstance and tradition.

"I began to say to myself, there is honor in death, but only if there is honor in life," he said. "You can die honorably only if you lived honorably."

Brown then turned to March's family, addressing his parents, Howard S. March Sr. and Lisa Leeper.

"God, through the death of your son, has invited you into his pain, because you only had one son. It would not be easier if you had five sons, but you only had one son.

"You gave [your only son], like God gave."

Brown then touched on their grief.

"The tears will flow," he said. "You're going to go through disbelief, anger, remorse and depression, and then you'll finally get to resolve. Don't rush through the grieving process. Let it happen."

Earlier in the service, the lyrics of one song - "After you've done all you can, just stand" - led Leeper to stand up in the front row, her arms outstretched, as others stomped their feet in the pews behind her.

Mayor Byron W. Brown led a host of elected officials who paid their respects by attending the service, which was followed by burial in Forest Lawn.

"We're here today to celebrate the life of a young man who was a hero, a young man who was among our best and our brightest," the mayor said.

About half a dozen mourners also took the microphone during the service, to offer their support. They ranged from close friends of March's to a woman with a son in Iraq to at least one person who didn't even know him.

The group also included one Marine who accompanied March's body home and told the mourners they didn't need to know his name.

The Marine looked at the casket and told the crowd, "If I could take his place right now, I would."

From the Buffalo News

Related Link:
Howard March killed during combat operations