Town
pays tribute to fallen corporals
26th February 2008 pg 11
Swindon Advertiser
www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk
RESIDENTS of Wootton Bassett paid their respects as the town's
High Street saw the repatriation of two fallen soldiers.
The bodies of Cpl Damian Dee' Mulvihill, 32, and Corporal
Damian Lawrence, 25, were flown into RAF Lyneham. The pair
died just three days apart while serving in Helmund Province
in southern Afghanistan, as part of different units.
Royal Marine Commando Cpl Mulvihill was killed by a bomb,
while he was on patrol in Helmund Province on February 20.
He died instantly. Cpl Lawrence, of The Green Howards - 2nd
Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment - was killed by a bomb as
he entered a compound
during a night patrol with the Afghan Nation Army in Kajaki.
Major Gill Wilkinson, of Headquarters 52 Brigade - a unit
affiliated with both servicemen - was present at the repatriation.
He said: "We remain ever grateful that the people of
Wootton Bassett show their respects in this manner for every
repatriation. We all heard that this little market
town was showing its respects in this way. And we certainly
value the support and recognition that we, as service personnel,
are getting from you all."
Cpl Mulvihill, 32, from Plymouth, is the first member of
40 Commando Royal Marines, based in Somerset, to be killed
since they were sent to the war-torn country in October.
He was on a patrol with Alpha Company, near Sangin, when
the explosion happened at 12.15pm local time. A second commando
was injured in the blast.
Cpl Mulvihill leaves his fiancée Lisa, his parents
and his siblings Clare and Sam. Corporal Lawrence leaves
a three-year-old daughter, Jessica. The latest deaths bring
the total number of servicemen killed in Afghanistan since
military action started in 2001, to
89.
The families of both corporals paid tribute to them on the
Ministry of Defence website. In a statement, Cpl Mulvihill's
family said: "He was
so loved by the whole family, he never had a bad word to
say about anyone and always looked for the good in people."
Cpl Lawrence's heartbroken mother Alison Lawrence said she
wanted her son's colleagues to find the nearest bar on their
arrival back to the UK and raise a toast to the 25-year-old.
She said: "As his mother, I am proud to say he died
doing what he loved."
Wootton Bassett Royal British Legion secretary Anne Bevis
said: "We have already seen too many of these ceremonies.
It's a tragedy which touches us all and, no matter how many
flag-draped
coffins pass through our town, the convoy
never loses its impact."
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