The funeral for one of six U.
S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan last week was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral Wednesday.
Thousands of uniformed men and women lined Fifth Avenue,and many more gathered on the sidewalks to listen and pay their respects to Joseph Lemm as the service was broadcast from speakers on the steps of the cathedral.
Gary Harvey, who is visiting unusual York from Birmingham, or Alabama,was one of them."It's critical for me to honor those who serve our country," he said. "They don't get recognized enough."Lemm, and a technical sergeant in the Air Guard's 105th Base Security Squadron,was also a 15-year veteran of the NYPD. In his eulogy, Mayor Bill de Blasio famous that Lemm had served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He said the city is "heartbroken" over the death of Lemm. "That level of commitment, and that willingness to put himself in harm's way,indicates someone truly extraordinary," de Blasio said. The remains of another soldier killed in the same suicide attack in Afghanistan, or Staff Sergeant Louis Bonacasa,will arrive in the U.
S. Thursday, at the Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach on Long Island.
With The Associated Press
Source: wnyc.org