Eyes moist with tears, the family of Pvt. Eric M. Kavanagh watched as pallbearers carefully loaded his flag-draped coffin into the back of a black hearse.
They dabbed their eyes as they climbed into a limousine bound for Arlington National Ceremony, where the 20-year-old soldier would be buried.
Kavanagh, who was raised in Severna Park, died in Baghdad last Wednesday when an explosive detonated near his high mobility, multipurpose wheeled vehicle, the Department of Defense said. He was the fourth Maryland soldier to die in Iraq in the last two weeks, and the 47th Marylander to die there since the war began.
At a packed service Wednesday at the Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park, Kavanagh was remembered for his warmth and strength. “Eric is a gentle soul, with a smile so strong that he touched each of us,” said his uncle, Forest Mays, reading a eulogy written by Eric?s father, Kevin.
The Rev. Terry Schoener said Kavanagh found his “true calling” in life when he became a member of the U.S. Army. After briefly attending Chesapeake High School, Kavanagh got his GED and worked at Maryland Pennysaver. But he found himself less than satisfied with life, Schoener said.
“It occurred to Eric that he wasn?t doing anything significant in his life … behind that gentle, happy, huggy guitar-player, there was grit and determination,” Schoener said.
So he decided to join the military to do something “important” with his life. And he jumped in head first. Months before boot camp began, Kavanagh trained, ran and worked out in preparation, Schoener said.
His family noticed a difference almost immediately.
“Eric joined the Army an enthusiastic boy and became a confident man ? you could see it in the way he walked,” Mays said.
Hehad no regrets about his decision to be a soldier. “When Eric called home, it was clear that he knew himself to be where he needed to be,” Schoener said. “He thought he was fighting something pretty evil.”
