Hundreds honor Bellport newlywed killed in Baghdad

Hundreds came to honor a fallen soldier from Bellport who was laid to rest Wednesday. Twenty-year-old Corporal James Lundin died in Baghdad last week from a roadside bomb. "He's a good kid, a really

News 12 Staff

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Jun 6, 2007, 11:58 PM

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Updated 6,432 days ago

Hundreds came to honor a fallen soldier from Bellport who was laid to rest Wednesday.

Twenty-year-old Corporal James Lundin died in Baghdad last week from a roadside bomb.

"He's a good kid, a really good kid, I miss him so much," one of his friends said.

While overseas, Lundin married his college sweetheart, Kristy, by proxy. Later this month they planned to have a ceremony on Long Island. However, his tour was extended.

"We were waiting for him to come home," said Rose Tardif, Kristy Lundan's aunt. "To have a nice wedding, she bought her dress and everything, now she has to have a funeral."

Lundin's family said the corporal joined the Army at 18 because he wanted to help in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

National Guard helicopters flew in a missing-man formation over the funeral procession. Corporal Lundin was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star.

Lundin was the 25th Long Islander to die in recent combat. A day after he died, another Long Islander was killed in Iraq.