JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Lance Cpl. Izaak Spaulding hung ID tags on a rifle yesterday during a service for Pfc. Matthew Bertolino, Lance Cpl. Nicholas R. Anderson, Lance Cpl. Billy Brixey Jr. and Petty Officer 3rd Class John Fralish at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe.

‘Lava Dogs’ honor fallen fellow Marines

The unit lost four in Afghanistan on its second combat tour

Kaneohe Bay's "Lava Dogs" -- home from the battlefields of Afghanistan -- paid an emotional tribute yesterday to four Marine comrades who were killed during their five-month tour of duty.

Standing in front of his Marines at Kaneohe Bay's Dewey Square, Lt. Col. James "Chip" Bierman, commander of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, said the four were "beloved sons, brothers, uncles, nephews, friends and fellow Lava Dogs."

Honored by the Marines were:

» Lance Cpl. Billy D. Brixey Jr., 21, of Ferriday, La., who died Jan. 27 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany after he was wounded by a roadside bomb while on convoy duty Jan. 25.

» Petty Officer 3rd Class John T. Fralish, 30, of New Kingstown, Pa., who died Feb. 6 when enemy forces opened fire on a U.S. patrol northwest of Methar Lam in Laghman province. He was a hospital corpsman.

» Pfc. Matthew L. Bertolino, 20, of Hampstead, N.H., who died Feb. 9 when the vehicle he was in rolled over near Jalalabad.

» Lance Cpl. Nicholas R. Anderson, 21, of Sauk City, Wisc., who died March 13 in a vehicle accident.

This was the Lava Dogs' second combat tour in four years.

Two years ago, the 1st Battalion deployed to Iraq, participated in the battle for Fallujah and supported the Iraqi national elections. They returned to Kaneohe Bay in May 2005 after losing 45 Marines and one hospital corpsman.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Joyce Bertolino, mother of Pfc. Matthew Bertolino, kissed her son's ID tags as Matthew's sister Kristen looked on.

Even while the Lava Dog battalion paid tribute to Kaneohe Marines killed in Afghanistan, a sister unit -- the 2nd Battalion -- is preparing to fight in Iraq, replacing the Kaneohe-based 3rd Battalion in early fall.

With a roll of family members in the audience, Bierman eulogized the fallen Marines. All four were single.

"Doc" Fralish, or "Captain America," was loved and respected, Bierman said. Fralish once climbed a mountain at night to treat an Afghan girl, leaving his rank insignia to guarantee her safe passage to a coalition hospital.

Brixey was a mechanic who could fix anything that could run with a Humvee. "He never lost sight of things that were important -- God, family, the Corps and country," Bierman said. "He was respected because he read the Bible every night before he fell asleep."

Brixey enlisted four days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He extended his enlistment earlier this year to stay with his unit.

Anderson transferred from the Wisconsin Army National Guard because he believed the Marine Corps was "a better match for his personality." He was a "determined and dependable young man."

Bertolino was "a smiling optimist who made the best of every situation." Bierman said that even as a private first class, Bertolino was a leader, and "his positive attitude was infectious."