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| Monday, December 20, 2004 |
Marine's funeral full of warm
memories
ARMANDO RIOS
Bulletin Staff Writer
Bulletin Photo by Kevin
Pieper
Sarah Clairday, 19, of Salem,
(left) is presented with an American flag during the
burial of her husband, Marine Cpl. Jason Clairday,
Saturday, at Camp Cemetery near Salem. Clairday was
killed Dec. 12 in Fallujah, Iraq, from enemy fire.
Next to Sarah Clairday is her mother, Cindy
McCullough.
Bulletin Photo by Kevin
Pieper
A United States Marine lifts
an American flag from the casket of Marine Cpl.
Jason Clairday, Saturday, during a burial ceremony
for Clairday. Clairday was killed Dec. 12 in
Fallujah, Iraq, from enemy fire.
Bulletin Photo by Kevin
Pieper
An unidentified honorary
pallbearer places a flower on the casket of Marine
Cpl. Jason Clairday Saturday during a burial
ceremony for Clairday at Camp Cemetery near Salem.
Clairday was killed Sunday, Dec. 12, while fighting
in Fallujah, Iraq. He was 21 years old.
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SALEM — "Thanks" was the epitaph the Rev. John Hodges,
pastor of First Baptist Church of Salem, had for 21-year-old
Marine Cpl. Jason Scot Clairday, who was killed Dec. 12 in
Fallujah, Iraq, from enemy fire.
Clairday's funeral was Saturday afternoon at the church,
with burial in Camp Cemetery a few miles down the road.
Clairday was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, which
was presented to his widow, Sarah Clairday, whom he married
July 31. He had entered the Marine Corps after graduation
and married Sarah before going overseas.
During the service, attended by more than 600 people, Hodges
gave mourners snippets of what Clairday was like. Like most
youngsters, he was slightly mischievous, but more of an
instigator who managed to stay out of trouble, always having
an innocent look on his face while his compatriots got
caught.
He loved to fish and hunt along the creek and loved the
lake, Hodges said.
When he was in high school, it was baseball, girls and
church, Hodges said, adding he was unsure in what order they
came for the young man. But if it was like most young men,
it would have been girls, then baseball, then church.
Shortly before he graduated from Salem High School in 2001,
the deacons at the church bought Clairday a suit and shoes,
Hodges said. Clairday loved to dress up for church and was
always calling friends to see what they would be wearing to
the Sunday service. After he joined the Marines, he returned
for a visit and was wearing another new suit, his Marine
dress blues.
In high school, Clairday excelled at sports. He was on the
baseball team. Hodges said Clairday was not only a good
athlete but also a great leader.
Clairday was a member of First Baptist Church, where he sang
in the youth choir. They showed a video of Clairday and the
youth choir singing one of his favorite songs, "Shouting
Time in Heaven."
It is shouting time in heaven for Clairday, Hodges said.
"I don't know if anyone knew how to live life any more fully
than Jason," Hodges said. "I don't know of anyone who loved
people and life any more than Jason."
As a boy and later as a young man, Clairday loved hugs,
Hodges said.
When he joined the church, Clairday saw the church members
as a large family.
"I am sure that Jason has been on the forefront of your
minds all week as we have thought about him and thought
about his loss and thought about his family and thought
about his young wife and thought about all his friends,"
Hodges said. "He was happy to have Sarah, happy to have
another family."
When he first met Clairday, his future father-in-law thought
he was a fake, because he could not believe a young man
could be so good, Hodges said.
His father-in-law later told another church member that
Clairday was no fake.
"He was building a family life and looked forward to the
future, but that future is not here," Hodges said. "He has
gained a better body, he has gained a better home, he has
gained better riches through his faith in Christ."
Clairday made such an impact on his church and his
community, Hodges said. He wanted to please his family,
Sarah, the church and the Marines and never wanted anything
back in return other than just simply to be loved.
"He took pride in what he was doing in Iraq," Hodges said.
"He felt very honored to serve this country. He made this
statement not long ago, 'You know, it is more difficult to
liberate a country, than I thought.' Yet he was willing to
give himself completely to what he was doing."
Clairday's casket was accompanied by Marines in dress blues.
Alternating between three pairs of Marines, a pair stood at
either end of his casket at parade rest during the service.
At the cemetery, they stood in two lines and saluted as the
family walked between their ranks. Three rifle volleys rang
out from a squad of seven Marines, followed by the playing
of "Taps."
The U.S. flag draping Clairday's casket was ceremoniously
folded and given to his widow by a Marine officer. Then came
the reading of a proclamation giving Clairday the Purple
Heart, awarded to Clairday for his wounds received in action
Dec. 12.
The Purple Heart also was presented to his widow. Another
Marine also read "The Marine's Prayer" at the graveside
service.
The Marine burial guard was from a company in Little Rock.
Clairday is survived by his wife, Sarah Clairday of Salem;
his biological parents, Virgil Clairday Jr. and Nancy
McWilliams, both of Delta, Colo.; "Mom and Dad," Brenda
Sutherland of Salem and Rodney Sutherland of Camp; brothers
Ryan Logan Clairday of Paliside, Calif., Gary Jay Clairday
of Delta and Chris Youngblood of Camp; grandmother Mary
Clairday of Oklahoma; and a host of relatives and friends.
armandor@baxterbulletin.com
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