Charlie Heinlein laid to rest

Thomas Heinlein remembered the time he couldn't get the song, "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer," out of his head. So of course his son, Charlie, as everyone called him, had to play it over and over.

Then there were the times Charlie had to mow the lawn. He would say, "You wanted all the yard mowed?" Or do the dishes. "Oh, you wanted all the dishes done?"

With song, prayer and laughter, Pfc. Charles T. Heinlein Jr.'s friends and family gathered Friday evening at the Hemlock-Merrill V.F.W. Post No. 7302 to remember him.

Heinlein, 23, of Hemlock, and two other soldiers were killed in Iraq on July 31 when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle. He was with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) out of Fort Lewis, Wash.

Heinlein was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery earlier this week.

A Merrill Community Schools custodian remembered Charlie sometimes hiding a dustpan or mop. He said he was a kid "always on the go."

"He grew up to be a fine young man," he said.

The child who loved to play pranks matured into a good friend and giving man.

His sister, Jody Heinlein, 29, remembered him first as her "goofy" little brother. She recalled their times together walking to the store and riding their bikes. They grew closer when he went to Iraq.

"I was very proud of him," she said, as her 18-month-old daughter, Logan Kieselhorst, played nearby.

She urged people not to mourn him forever, because he wouldn't want that.

"Remember him. Laugh about him," Jody said.

Thomas said the last time he talked with his son, he offered to send him a care package. Charlie told him to send it to Drew, another soldier, who never got care packages.

"He worried about his comrades first," he said.

Charlie was a 13-year-old with a "mop of hair" when Lupe Juarez first met him.

"We've been worried about this since Charlie first went to Iraq," Juarez said after the service, adding that his unit was due back before his death, but their deployment was extended.

"Charlie was a hero," he said.

For Trisha Hogaboom-Seaver, Charlie was one of her best friends. They used to hang out in his dad's truck and talk for hours.

"He was always there for me," she said. She said it was a "real big shock" when he joined the Army.

"He said he was joining it so he could be a better person," she said.

The Rev. James Martin, who led the prayers and talked, only recently learned that Charlie was thinking about becoming a military chaplain because of Martin's influence.

"That was unexpected and very touching," he said.

Martin then said in the end, no one is alone.

"When the bomb went off, Charlie was not alone. The Lord was there to receive him," Martin said.

Fromt the Midland Daily News

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