The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two Marines who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sergeant Kevin B. Balduf, 27, of Nashville, Tennessee, and Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin J. Palmer, 43, of Modesto, California, died May 12, 2011 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

                This incident is currently under investigation.

Sergeant Balduf was assigned to 8th Communications Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.  For additional background information on this Marine, news media representatives may contact the II Marine Expeditionary Force public affairs office at 910-451-5260.

Lieutenant Colonel Palmer was assigned to Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 2, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Cherry Point, North Caroloina.  For additional background information on this Marine, news media representatives may contact the II Marine Aircraft Wing public affairs office at 252-466-4241.

“While this is a serious incident, the actions of this individual do not reflect the overall actions of our Afghan partners,” said Marine Major General James Laster, the International Security Assistance Force’s deputy chief of staff for joint operations. “We remain committed to our partners and to our mission here.”
 
Palmer was assigned to Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 2, out of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. Balduf was assigned to 8th Communications Battalion, out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.  Balduf’s remains arrived Saturday at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware., Air Force officials said.
 
Additional details about the Marines’ duties were not immediately available. Palmer served last year in Afghanistan as the commander of 2nd Low Altitude Defense Battalion, out of MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. He was replaced in a ceremony at Cherry Point in December after the unit’s deployment ended, according to a Marine news release. The battalion served downrange as a provisional infantry security force.

 Bikers revved their engines. Thousands of protesters waved American flags.

 On one side of the street, the signs read: "Nashville: No place for hate" and "God loves Sergeant Kevin Balduf."
 
On the other side, they read: "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God is your enemy."
 
But beyond all that, inside the protective walls of a quiet church, lay a young man in Marine dress blues.
 
On May 12, Nashville native and Marine Sergeant Kevin Balduf, 27, was killed in combat in Afghanistan. Much closer to his home, Christian fundamentalists in Topeka, Kansas, planned their trip to protest his funeral.
 
News of Westboro Baptist Church's plans lit up social media sites, resulting in a counter-protest of about 2,000 people Monday outside Woodmont Hills Family of God church on Franklin Pike. In less than 10 minutes, two hours before the funeral's start, the three Westboro protesters took their leave.
 
Earlier Monday, the three protested outside Gordon Jewish Community Center in Bellevue and the Islamic Center of Nashville on 12th Avenue South. During their short protest of the Islamic center, someone slashed the tires on their rented SUV. Metro Police took a report, but no one has been charged.
 
Since a March Supreme Court ruling in favor of Westboro Baptist, counter-protesters have stepped up their efforts to shout the group down at soldiers' funerals. America must allow "even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion for the court.
 
All but one justice sided with the church, which has stirred outrage with raucous demonstrations contending that God is punishing the military for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality. The church was started in 1955 and regularly protests the funerals of soldiers nationwide.
 
The Topeka church didn't respond to calls and emails requesting comment Monday, and the protesters left the funeral area without speaking to media.
 
Six hours before the afternoon funeral service, people filled the expansive church lawn and lined Franklin Pike to the Thompson Lane intersection.
 
The majority came by motorcycle. Others parked at the fairgrounds and nearby parking lots, shuttled to the church lawn by Rural/Metro Ambulances, a service donated by the private company. Others arrived on donated party buses.
 
Their mission was for Balduf's family and friends coming to mourn to see only American flags, only patriotism, only a showing of gratitude for Balduf's sacrifice.
 
"The counter-protest is a great example of freedom at work and America at its best," said Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at Nashville's First Amendment Center. "Instead of shutting them down or censoring them using the government, we have people who are willing to stand up and drown them out.
 
"It's a really great illustration of how freedom of expression can work in the United States."
 
Rachel Wilson, a 36-year-old professor of entrepreneurship at Middle Tennessee State University, brought her 6-year-old daughter, Emily, to the counter-protest as a lesson in freedom of speech and empathy for a grieving family.
 
"After seeing this, she told me, 'Mom, God doesn't hate anyone. He loves dead soldiers and alive soldiers. And he loves their families. He even loves the protesters,' " Rachel Wilson said.
 
During the protest at the Islamic center, about 20 Muslims in the mosque for noontime prayers decided to answer with silence.
 
"We prayed for them," said Imam Mohammed Ahmed, after the prayers were done. "We decided to ignore them."
 
At Westboro's next stop, the three stood exactly 500 feet from the church lawn. Tennessee law requires a 500-foot buffer zone for funeral protesters, and a Metro officer pointed out where that would be.
 
A new state law that takes effect July 1 increases the fine for crossing that line to $500. The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Eric Stewart, a Democrat from Franklin County, said he received no opposition to the bill.
 
"We've seen throughout the country, and now today in Tennessee, that Westboro will try to protest these funerals and disrespect our troops," Stewart said. "Quite frankly, what Westboro stands for does not represent my faith, and I don't think it represents the faith of any of the people in my district."
 
The three sign-wielding protesters stood on one side of Franklin Pike, blocked by three mounted police officers.
 
On the other side of the street, throngs of patriotic counterprotesters chanted "USA! USA!" while others sang "America, the Beautiful." They, too, were blocked by mounted police.
 
Adam Gordon, a 27-year-old retired Army soldier who was injured in combat in Iraq, came from Murfreesboro to show his support for Balduf and his family.
 
"It's just the right thing to do," he said. "It's a military funeral, so we should all be here showing our thanks, anyway."
 
Before the funeral, Balduf's grandfather Charlie Newsom shuffled from counterprotester to counterprotester, thanking them for their support.
 
Inside, Balduf got the peace and respect that the counterprotesters wished for him. A standing-room-only crowd of mourners laughed and cried over stories of their beloved Kevin, a twin who died as a husband and a father.
 
They remembered his humility and his work ethic and his immense pride in his country.
 
His former David Lipscomb High School football coach, Scott Tillman, knew exactly how Kevin would react to the day's massive showing.
 
He'd display his signature goofy grin and, with his deep voice, he'd say:
 
"What's all the fuss about? I was just doing my job."

 
No additional details were provided.
 
Balduf was assigned to 8th Communications Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune.
 
The Nashvillian graduated from David Lipscomb High School in 2002 and played on the school's football team.
 
Balduf's twin brother Kyle told Nashville's News 2 his younger brother by one minute wanted to be a Marine practically his whole life. 
 
"Kevin wanted me to be in the Marine Corps with him and I knew it wasn't my thing.  He did, but I didn't want to be a part of it.  I think about that," Kyle Balduf said. 

Despite not joining the Marine's with his brother, Kyle said he knew his brother's fellow Marines looked after his Kevin when he couldn't. 

"He had brothers in the Marine Corps who would guard him in my absence and that was neat.  It's been neat to hear from them over the past few days and recognize their names and remember him talking about them," Balduf said. 

Kyle said that he last spoke with his brother via email just days before he was killed. In the email, he got to tell his younger brother that he loved him for what would be the final time.  

"He let me know what things were going on there and he said, ‘I love you too,'" Balduf said, adding, "If he hadn't taken the time to do that, I wouldn't have had those precious last words with my brother." 

Sergeant Balduf is survived by his wife and two daughters. He is scheduled to be buried in the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. on June 15.

BALDUF, KEVIN   
SGT   US MARINE CORPS 
AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ 
DATE OF BIRTH: 07/14/1983 
DATE OF DEATH: 05/12/2011 
BURIED AT: SECTION 60  SITE 9620 
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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