MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- A memorial ceremony was held for a Marine who died Feb. 21 from injuries sustained during a training event aboard the base.
Pfc. Joshua A. Bailey, a Cullman, Ala., native, was honored by the Marines of 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, at the base Protestant Chapel here March 8.
Bailey, an automotive mechanic with Battery T, joined the Marine Corps on May 22, 2006, and attended Marine Corps Recruit Training at Parris Island, S.C.
The young Marine, who attended elementary, middle and high school in Vinemont, Ala., reported to Battery T, Dec. 22, 2006, after completion of the Motor Transportation Mechanics Course at Camp Johnson, N.C.
The ceremony was a way for the battalion to remember their fallen brother.
The battalion commanding officer, Lt. Col. Christopher R. McCarthy, gave his remarks and respects to Bailey.
“Today we stop to remember a fellow Marine, a brother and a member of our Marine family,” McCarthy said. “I have been told that Pfc. Bailey had a great sense of humor, he was energetic and he was unselfish. And while I did not know him on a personal level, I know one thing for certain; Private First Class Bailey was a United States Marine, and because he was a Marine, he and I share an unbreakable family bond.”
The battalion chaplain, Lt. Peter Dietz, also spoke to the battalion during the ceremony.
“Today as we remember Josh Bailey and mourn his death, the question is not how could God let something like this happen?” Dietz continued. “The question is how will God help us get through the pain?”
Dietz led the battalion in a memorial prayer, and after, the entire battalion said the Marines’ prayer in unison.
First Sergeant Russell A. Strack, the Battery T first sergeant, made the final roll call followed by “TAPS” and the retirement of the colors.
“We remember Private First Class Bailey, United States Marine Corps, your fellow Marine, and we remember the uniqueness that was only Joshua A. Bailey, a brother, a friend, a son and a fiancé,” Dietz said. “Today we remember his song as well as the songs he sang with us.”
The somber mood of the battalion during the ceremony was a sign that Bailey will be missed by all his brothers-in-arms, and as it came to a close, a photograph of Bailey, a folded flag and a pair of boots underneath a mounted flak jacket and Kevlar helmet remained in the spotlight of the chapel as the Marines filed out, some with tears still in their eyes.
Bailey was 18-years-old.