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- CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION - CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM In the composite photograph above, Gov. Linda Lingle spoke yesterday at the state Capitol memorial service in honor of the 27 Kaneohe Marines and one Pearl Harbor sailor most recently killed in Iraq.

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‘We weep at their
passing, honor their
service and cherish
their memories’

Emotions run deep as family
members and government officials
gather at the state Capitol

In formation for the last time, 27 Kaneohe Marines and a Pearl Harbor sailor were honored yesterday at a state Capitol memorial service attended by thousands.

"I am very proud of my son, but this has nothing to do with being supportive of the war. ... I hated the war with all my guts and all my mind." Dinara Ragimov Who is mourning the loss of her son, Lance Cpl. Mourad Ragimov

Lei-draped photos of the fallen servicemen, along with their dog tags, rifles, boots and helmets, were lined up in the rotunda before a sea of more than 2,000 khaki and white uniforms.

Sixty-two people, representing 18 of 28 families who lost a service member, sat in the first six rows. Their visit to the islands was paid by the Navy and Marine Corps relief fund.

"The men we remember today are now (an) indelible part of our legacy, and they have taken their place alongside the other heroes of our great nation who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our greater good," Lt. Gen. Wallace Gregson, commander of Marine Forces in the Pacific, said before the names of the Marines and the sailor were read. "We weep at their passing, honor their service and cherish their memories."

The service honored the 26 Kaneohe Marines and one Navy hospital corpsman who were killed in a CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter crash on Jan. 26. It was the single deadliest event for the U.S. military in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in March 2003.

The 27th Marine honored yesterday was Lance Cpl. Sean Maher, who was killed Feb. 2, a few weeks before the unit left for Kuwait and home.

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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Colleen Parkin kissed the dog tags of her son, Marine Matthew R. Smith. With her were Smith's father, Gary Smith; stepmother, Laura Smith; and stepfather, Stan Parkin, at far left.

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Two previous memorials at Kaneohe Bay have honored the other 16 isle Marines and another Navy corpsman assigned to the unit who were killed earlier in the four-month-long Iraqi deployment.

At yesterday's service the 28 servicemen's inverted M-16 rifles were in a sharp row, lined up by rank starting with 1st Lt. Travis Fuller of Granville, Mass., ending with Lance Cpl. Michael Starr, 21, of Baltimore. Before each set of desert boots was a red brick, similar to one enshrined at Kaneohe Bay's Iwo Jima Pacific War Memorial, inscribed with name, rank and date of death.

Gov. Linda Lingle noted that the servicemen came "from as far north as Northampton, Pa., and as far south as Orange, Fla. They came from the Midwest plains to the Southwest deserts and the California coasts.

"They each brought a part of their hometowns and a part of their families here to us and to our community. The loss of these men were felt across the world, but perhaps nowhere as deeply as here in this state."

In recalling the lives of the fallen, Col. Jeff Patterson, who commands Kaneohe's 3rd Regiment, said that many were prompted to enlist after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Ten were married.

One was engaged to be married.

Two -- Lance Cpl. Brian Hopper and Cpl. Sean Kelly -- have brothers who are also Marines.

Three Marines -- Lance Cpl. Joseph Spence, Cpl. Timothy Knight and Navy Petty Officer John House -- never got to see their newborn children.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Members of the military services bowed their heads during yesterday's service at the state Capitol honoring 28 Hawaii-based servicemen killed in Iraq.

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Patterson said three of the fallen Marines -- Lance Cpl. Saeed Jafarkhani-Torshizi, Lance Cpl. Gael Saintvil and Lance Cpl. Mourad Ragimov -- were sons of immigrant parents from Iran, Haiti and Azerbaijan.

"This is what makes this country so strong," Patterson added. "This is why we are known as the melting pot. The Marine Corps, like this country, finds strength in our diversity. Where others find differences and strife, we build bonds that even surpass the fear of death."

After the ceremony, Dinara Ragimov said she not only mourns the death of her son, Mourad, but also knows what Iraqi mothers are going through.

"To me it is no difference," she said. "It's a tragedy for the entire whole world. No matter where it happens, what nationality, what race, what region, what nation; it's all the same."

Ragimov said she is a pacifist and never supported the war. "I hate Mr. Bush."

"I am very proud of my son," said Ragimov, who is from San Diego, "but this has nothing to do with being supportive of the war. ... I hated the war with all my guts and all my mind."

She said her son joined the Marine Corps "to become a man. ... From a boy's perspective it was to do the most hardest, the most dangerous thing -- to become a Marine."

Another mother -- Roni Aurelio, whose son, Lance Cpl. Stephen Johnson, left behind three children in California -- said she "will never get over it (her son's death). I know I'm going to accept it, but I'm not sure when. Everyone has been so wonderful and supportive in Hawaii and California. I am very grateful for everything."

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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM At left, Marie Saintvil held a portrait of her son, Gael Saintvil, after the memorial. With her were friend Christina Sueyoshi and Gael's father, Belga Saintvil.

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In memory of 28 isle troops killed in Iraq Yesterday's service at the state Capitol honored 27 Marines and a Navy corpsman with Hawaii ties killed recently in Iraq: Killed in the Jan. 26 helicopter crash were: » Staff Sgt. Brian D. Bland, 26, of Weston, Wis. » Lance Cpl. Jonathan E. Etterling, 22, of Wheelersburg, Ohio. » Sgt. Michael W. Finke Jr., 28, of Huron, Ohio. » 1st Lt. Travis J. Fuller of Granville, Mass. » Cpl. Timothy M. Gibson, 23, of Hillsborough, N.H. » Cpl. Richard A. Gilbert Jr., 26, of Montgomery, Ohio. » Cpl. Kyle J. Grimes, 21, of Northampton, Pa. » Lance Cpl. Brian C. Hopper, 21, of Wynne, Ark. » Petty Officer John D. House, 28, of Ventura, Calif. » Lance Cpl. Saeed Jafarkhani-Torshizi Jr., 25, of Tarrant, Texas. » Cpl. Stephen P. Johnson, 24, of Covina, Calif. » Cpl. Sean P. Kelly, 23, of Glouster, N.J. » Lance Cpl. Allan Klein, 34, of Macomb, Mich. » Cpl. Timothy Knight, 22, of Brooklyn, Ohio. » Lance Cpl. Fred L. Maciel, 20, of Spring, Texas. » Cpl. James L. Moore, 24, of Douglas, Ore. » Cpl. Nathaniel K. Moore, 22, of Champaign, Ill. » Lance Cpl. Mourad Ragimov, 20, of San Diego. » Lance Cpl. Rhonald Rairdan, 20, of Bexar, Texas. » Lance Cpl. Hector Ramos, 20, of Aurora, Ill. » Lance Cpl. Gael Saintvil, 24, of Orange, Fla. » Cpl. Nathan A. Schubert, 22, of Cherokee, Iowa. » Lance Cpl. Darrell J. Schumann, 25, of Hampton, Va. » 1st Lt. Dustin M. Shumney, 30, of Solano, Calif. » Cpl. Matthew R. Smith, 24, of Salt Lake City. » Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Spence, 24, of Santa Cruz, Calif. » Lance Cpl. Michael L. Starr Jr., 21, of Baltimore. Killed on Feb. 2: » Lance Cpl. Sean P. Maher, 19, of Grays Lake, Ill., who died in an ambush near Fallujah. He was driving a Humvee.