Marine Staff Sgt. Richard T. Pummill

Died October 20, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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27, of Cincinnati, Ohio; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed Oct. 20 by an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Nasser Wa Salaam, Iraq. Also killed were Lance Cpl. Andrew D. Russoli and Lance Cpl. Steven W. Szwydek.

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Marine who volunteered for combat called a hero

The Associated Press

CINCINNATI — Under an overcast sky, about 100 mourners gathered at a suburban Cincinnati cemetery to pay tribute to a Marine who died in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Richard Pummill was described as a hero on Oct. 24 by Maj. David Slack for giving up his recruiting job for a combat assignment.

Pummill, 27, and two other Marines were killed Oct. 20 when an improvised explosive device struck their Humvee about 25 miles west of Baghdad.

“We don’t want to lose anybody,” Slack said. “But unfortunately, freedom isn’t free. It’s a risk you take when you put on the uniform. Sgt. Pummill is truly a hero because he’s one of those who put on the uniform.”

Pummill joined the Marines after graduating from Anderson High School in suburban Anderson Township in 1996. He had been in Iraq since July.

People lined parts of a six-mile stretch of Ohio Route 125 as Pummill’s funeral procession passed by on the way from a funeral home to Mount Moriah Cemetery in Union Township.

Pummill received rifle volley, and his wife, Chantal, accepted his Purple Heart medal and certificate as well as the American flag that had draped his coffin.

Pummill’s mother, Lynn Pummill of Anderson Township, also received an American flag.