CORPORAL Bernard Brent Gooden, the Jamaican-born US Marine who was killed in combat in Iraq earlier on April 4, was buried with full military honours in Wild Cane district, St Ann, where he was born 22 years ago.

Gooden, born July 14, 1980, was the only son of Carmen Palmer.

Yesterday, he was described as “truly an American hero” by his former commanding officer in Iraq, in a message read by Colonel William Callahan, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Marine Infantry Division.

United States Ambassador to Jamaica, Sue Cobb, concurred. “From everything I’ve heard about this man, he was a wonderful individual,” she said. “We are grateful to his family and to his community. He fought for my freedom, he fought for your freedom, he fought for freedom of people we don’t even know. He is truly a hero. The United States is very, very proud of Corporal Gooden.”

Opposition member of parliament for South West St Ann, Ernest Smith, paid tribute and proposed completing and naming the community centre in the district in honour of Gooden. He challenged the Marines to volunteer their time to complete the building.

Prior to Smith’s presentation, former MP Neville Gallimore had proposed renaming the Bohemia All-Age School, Gooden’s alma mater, in his honour.

“He died to help to secure your freedom and mine and that of the world,” Gallimore said. “Terrorism sponsored by death squads is a threat to every one of us. Every time you get on a plane today, you have to worry. You put off your trips because you are afraid. This young man went out to give us a little bit more confidence when we move around. He paid the ultimate price.”

Not to be outdone, People’s National Party councillor, Winston Brown, proposed naming a street in Wild Cane in Gooden’s honour.

At an April 18 memorial service in Mount Vernon, Gooden’s family was presented with the Purple Heart, the medal awarded to soldiers wounded or killed in combat.

His family has created a scholarship fund in his memory, and will dedicate a computer room at his primary school.

Long before the scheduled mid-day start of the funeral service, the Emmanuel Apostolic Church was filled with persons paying their last respects. Outside, a tent mounted to shelter persons from the flaming sun, was also filled, and so too was the churchyard. Every door and window on the church was packed tight with people eager to listen and see.

The silver-coloured casket, stripped with chrome, draped with the American flag and with two enlarged pictures of Gooden leaning against it, stood for all to see. It was unopened.

After Gooden’s body was returned to the US from Iraq, and up to the time of its burial, it was only handled by Marines — a standard procedure.

The service got underway at 12:15 pm and was flooded with tributes and kind words to the former Christiana Comprehensive High School (CCHS) head boy and valedictorian who left Jamaica in July 1997, just weeks after graduation.

The school, which he attended for four years, paid tribute to him in song.

He first went to Canada, and after two years at Centennial College and one at York University, he went to the US in 2001. Encouraged by his older cousin, Gleon James, Gooden joined the Marines and was placed in camp in North Carolina.

While at CCHS, Gooden was given special awards for excellence in Geography and English Language. He had dreamed of becoming a lawyer by age 24. That dream never came true. However, mourners were told yesterday that Gooden actually dreamt of dying a hero.

“Brent always dreamed of dying like a hero,” said Jennifer Brown in her eulogy. She described Gooden as an eloquent speaker and master of the English Language.

“He was baptised at this very church in 1994 at age 14 and was a member of the choir,” Brown told the congregation.

She elicited laughter when she reminisced on his demonstrating his healthy appetite by one day devouring 16 patties and a bag juice. However, his favourite meal was fried pork and yellow yam, she said.

Brown said she “felt paralysed” when she received news of Gooden’s death.

Gooden’s closest friend from school days, Everton Brown, shed tears as he paid tribute to his long-time buddy.

“As a good soldier he fulfilled his task, unfortunately he paid the ultimate price in a field of service that he dearly loved. He died doing what he loved best,” Brown said.

Gooden’s cousin, Camille Cole, who also delivered a tribute, later told the Sunday Observer that his passing has left a huge void in the lives of his relatives.

“We are trying to cope,” she said. “Sometimes we have to cheer each other up if anyone seems like crying. Brent always played a big part in the family.”

Cole said after growing up with Gooden for the first 17 years of his life, it was hard to imagine that he was no longer around.

As the service drew nearer to its end, scores of persons on the outside converged at the front door, oblivious of the Marines standing guard for the entire proceedings, in an attempt to get a better view of the recession. But with the Marines taking the casket and the cadet corps from CCHS forming a guard of honour, the crowd receded and allowed for a smooth flow.

At the family plot, about 1,000 metres away, the Marines saluted their fallen brother with a gun salute. The US flag covering the casket was later presented by Colonel Callahan to Gooden’s mother, who broke down in tears.