William Koprince laid to rest

LENOIR CITY - His comrades called him a model Marine.

His family and friends called him Billy.

"I watched him grow up," said Sherry Lenderman, a family friend. "To me, he's a little boy still. He's Bill and Bernice's boy."

Lenderman and about 900 others turned out Thursday night for the funeral of Lance Cpl. William Craig "Billy" Koprince Jr., the local Marine killed two days after Christmas in Iraq.

"He was a good Marine, a good son and a good friend," said his father, Bill. "He wanted to be a grunt, and he wore that name proudly."

Koprince, 24, died Dec. 27 when a roadside bomb exploded as he walked a foot patrol near Al Habbaniyah in Iraq's Anbar province. He'd been stationed there since July on his second tour of duty with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division of the II Marine Expeditionary Force, and would have come home in February.

His death made him the 64th service member from Tennessee killed in the war, which so far has claimed more than 3,000 American lives.

Koprince was the only Marine killed in the attack - and the first member of his platoon to fall, said his platoon commander, 2nd Lt. Matthew Adleta.

Adleta spent days at a time on patrols with Koprince before coming back to the United States this fall to prepare for the battalion's return.

"We had to be ready at a moment's notice to take down a house full of insurgents, but at the same time we were handing out soccer balls to the kids," the lieutenant said. "He was always the one you could turn to if you needed something done. He did what he needed to do and what he didn't have to do. I wouldn't have hesitated for any minute to put my life in his hands."

Koprince was born in the suburbs of Detroit but grew up here in Loudon County, graduating from Lenoir City High School in 2001. He joined the Marines in September 2003 as part of a plan to turn his life around, family members said.

"He wanted to make us proud, and he did," said his aunt, Norma Patterson. "He really did. He'd come full circle in his life."

Friends and strangers filed through the sanctuary of First Baptist Church at Thursday night's service to say goodbye. They stood in a line that stretched around the sanctuary, sharing hugs and tears with the family and swapping stories about the young man they remembered - his jokes, his soft-spoken manner, his hikes on the Appalachian Trail.

"He was exceptional in that quiet, confident way," his lieutenant said. "When he said something, he gave a boost to everybody around him."

They walked past family souvenirs and photos - the Marine as a baby in his mother's arms, as a blond-haired boy at play in the back yard, as a recruit at boot camp - to the casket, topped with his dress uniform hat and draped with an American flag. The walking stick he whittled and carried on hikes leaned against it.

"My family and I know Billy did not die in vain," said his sister, Morgan Moore. "Billy, I always thought the world of you. Even though I never told you, I am very proud that you were and are my big brother."

From the News Sentinel

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