Funeral held for Queens GI killed in Iraq

[DoYouEverWonder]

March 13, 2005



The sea of black-clad mourners assembled in a Bayside funeral home to say good-bye to Spc. Wai Lwin wore both symbols of patriotism and grief.

Yellow ribbon-pins emblazoned with the Myanmar flag adorned many lapels, and several women wore scarfs around their bodies, worn by some Buddhists for such somber occasions.

Wai Lwin, 27, of Douglaston, who was assigned to Manhattan's famous "Fighting 69th" Regiment, died last week after he was ambushed while in a Humvee on a road leading to the Baghdad airport. Spc. Azhar Ali, 27, of Kew Garden Hills, was killed in the same ambush.

The 40-minute Buddhist ceremony filled with chants, songs and prayers was conducted in Burmese by four clean-shaven monks, dressed in traditional orange robes. The service included a Buddhist rite by Lwin's family, in which the family pours water from glasses into a crystal bowl until it overflows, symbolizing the good deeds that family members will do that will now also "overflow" to Lwin since he can no longer do good deeds.

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/queens/nyc-fune0313,0,3444682.story?coll=nyc-swapbox1

[Wilms]

1. Peace n/t

[blogbear]

2. My How The Little Candle Casts Its Beams In An Otherwise..

Dark And Murkey World as so doth shine good deeds..sentiments from Shakespear

[TomClash]

3. "Hey, he CHOSE to join"

said the Repukes as the casket was lowered.