Brownwood Marine Mario Castillo Candlelight Service

Monday June 20, 2005
News
Community candlelight service tonight for Castillo
By Candace Cooksey Fulton -- Brownwood Bulletin
A community candlelight vigil honoring Lance Cpl. Mario A. Castillo, who was killed June 10 in Iraq, is set for 8:30 p.m. today at the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom.
Organizers have asked that those wishing to honor Castillo please bring their own candle and holder.
Castillo's flag-draped coffin was flown to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport late Friday, where a funeral coach from Davis-Morris Funeral Home was waiting to deliver the fallen Marine to his hometown of Brownwood. Texas Department of Public Safety officials gave escort from the airport to Davis-Morris.
Castillo's widow, Angela Portillo Castillo, arrived at D/FW on Friday from their home at Camp LeJeune, N.C.
"We have been so touched, we are so grateful for everything everyone has done for us," Angela Castillo said Saturday. "Every town, every city we came through the traffic was stopped. Police and firefighters stood by the side of the road with their hats off, over their hearts, as we passed by.
"We were so honored."
Angela Castillo also said her husband "would have wanted to be remembered as a man and a Marine. He is a hero."
Lance Cpl. Castillo will lie in repose at Davis Morris Funeral Home until his funeral service at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mary's Catholic Church. Two dress blue uniformed Marines will keep constant vigil through the service and Castillo will be buried with full military honors, including a rifle salute, at Eastlawn Memorial Park.
As of Wednesday, 155 Texans had been killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but Castillo, who is a 2003 Brownwood High School graduate and the son of Guadalupe and Maria Castillo, is the first from this area.
"It is so important that we honor our fallen heroes who are making the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms that we as Americans enjoy," said Billy Murphey, Brown County Veterans Service Officer, and also a former Marine.
The candlelight service will be on the grassy area that is actually behind the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom, at the corner of Austin Avenue and Coggin.
There is a planned program with prayers, readings and music, but organizers have said a time will be set aside for friends or family members to give personal tributes or share memories.
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2005/06/20/news/news03.txt