As the U.S. flag flew at half-staff, Lance Cpl. Karl Linn, a Marine Reservist and a student who once walked the VCU campus as a mechanical engineering major, was laid to rest next to his grandfather yesterday afternoon at Culpeper National Cemetery.
His mother accepted a folded flag in honor of her son’s service while family, friends and fellow Marines gathered to remember the 20-year-old Linn’s life and the sacrifice he made for his country.
“Being here on rifle detail, it’s very, very sombering and surreal,” said Sgt. McLeod, a personnel clerk with the inspector instructor staff for the Marines in Richmond. “You’re never expecting to see your fellow service members pass away in combat. Unfortunately, that’s the reality of combat.”
McLeod was part of the 21-gun salute to Linn who received full military honors including the flag-folding ceremony and a presentation of “Taps.”
Linn, along with three of his fellow Marines, was killed when their unit was ambushed Jan. 26 in Anbar, Iraq.
The cemetery made special arrangements for Linn to be buried next to his grandfather, a Navy serviceman, whose grave marked the end of a row of headstones.
B.B. Bradshaw, service officer of Culpeper’s American Legion Post 330, paid his respects to the fallen soldier.
“We average about 123 a year that we bury out here,” he said.
Richard Linn, Karl’s father, said his son had always been creative.
“He was kind of a designer,” Linn’s father said. “He almost considered doing art and engineering. He was kind of a tinkerer. He liked to draw and figure how things worked. Engineering is kind of a tradition. We’re all kind of builders and tinkerers.”
On Sept. 11, Linn was sitting in a classroom at James River High School when he wrote an e-mail to his father to ensure he had heard of the day’s tragic events.
“He was in high school in one of his classes, and he sent me an e-mail at 11:11 a.m. – and he snuck it,” he said. “He knew how to get around the school’s systems. He sent it to me in real time in case I hadn’t seen or heard it.”
Although Linn already had thoughts of joining the military, after the events of 9/11 he decided to join the Marine Corps Reserve.
“I think that was a significant factor,” Linn’s father said. “I know he was really impressed by that. He may have had ideas and that may have solidified them.”
Fully trained members of Lance Cpl. Linn’s unit left for Iraq in the fall of last year. Linn, along with the remainder of his unit joined them in mid-November after they completed combat training.
“He continued on with advanced combat training with full intent that he would join them,” Linn’s father said.
In early January, Linn posted a Web site that gave a brief glimpse of what his life was like in Iraq. The site included two entries and pictures of the young Marine, as well as weapons that his unit confiscated.
“He died serving his country in a very, very noble way, and in association with today’s conflict overseas, unfortunately it’s the reality of war,” Sgt. McLeod said. “It’s the negative reality of it.”