Above, from left, Lance Cpl. Bunny Long's father, Sim Long, 60; brother, Bunna, 31; sister, Sokhom Long, 24; mother, Yen Chea, 51; and sister, Sokha Long, 26, with a boot camp photo of Bunny. (Photo DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE)
(Photo DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE)Cambodians grieve for a son
Rites for a fallen Marine tear at many war refugees
By MERRILL BALASSONE
SACRAMENTO BEE STAFF WRITER
Before he is laid to rest among fellow Marines, the body of Lance Cpl. Bunny Long will come to a west Modesto Buddhist temple where Cambodian-Americans from around Stanislaus County will honor their first son lost in Iraq.
The saffron-robed monks of the Wat Cambodian Buddhist Association will preside over a traditional ceremony today for hundreds of Long's family and friends.
Long, 22, was killed March 10 when a suicide bomber drove a truck filled with explosives into a building he was guarding near Fallujah, in Iraq's Anbar province. He died from shrapnel wounds to his chest, said Marine Capt. Donn Puca.
Long's family retrieved his body Thursday night on the rain-soaked tarmac at Oakland International Airport, where four Marines had escorted the casket from a Naval hospital in Delaware.
His older brother, Bunna, said the family was overwhelmed by lines of supporters who greeted them on the way home in a motorcade of police and sheriff's cars.
Today's ceremony, he said, will be private, though another Monday will let the community say goodbye.
"We've had a lot of well-wishes and people paying their respects," said Bunna Long, 31. "We're thankful for everything they've done for us."
Thursday afternoon, temple elders reflected on Long's sacrifice as they sat on a picnic bench beneath a trio of flags. The American flag was raised highest, flanked by the Cambodian flag and a striped flag representing the Buddhist religion.
Many of the temple's members come from a tradition of serving in the Cambodian army, said Ven Srey, 69, who helped organize Long's funeral. Srey estimates 80 percent of families at the temple have a relative who served. Both Srey and his father were soldiers in Cambodia.
"We consider this country as our country, too," said Ry Kea, a board member and director of the Wat Cambodian Buddhist Association. "Bunny was born here and many of our children were born here. We appreciate his service for protecting the freedom we didn't enjoy in Cambodia."
Kea said Long is viewed as a hero among the temple's more than 450 members, who believe that his death symbolizes the Cambodian community's deep commitment to protecting freedom in their homeland and in the United States. Even Srey, approaching his 70th birthday and speaking Khmer, said he would go and serve in Iraq at a moment's notice if asked.
"Bunny has raised the spirit of the Cambodian community among mainstream culture," Kea said. "Instead of joining gangs and dying in a purposeless way, he died protecting his people. That's what Cambodian boys and girls should look up to."
1.7 million died or were killed
Many in the Cambodian community, including Long's family, escaped to the United States following the fall of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime. In 1979, when the Vietnamese toppled the Khmer Rouge, Bunny Long's father, Sim Long, his mother, Yen Chea, and his siblings Sokha, Sokhom and Bunna escaped through fields full of land mines to refugee camps on the Thailand border. Nearly a quarter of the country's population, as many as 1.7 million people, were executed or died from starvation, overwork or disease. The Long family lost a child only a few months old from starvation in a labor camp. The family eventually came to the United States, and Bunny Long was born in Memphis, Tenn.
This afternoon, Long's family will arrive at the temple wearing white, the Buddhist color of mourning. Long will be dressed in his Marine Corps dress blues in an open casket, which will be placed on a decorated platform under the temple's outdoor archways.
After family and friends stand to "show honor and respect to the soul," Long's family will give eulogies and will be given a chance to pay their respects to his body, Kea said.
Then, the temple's eight Buddhist monks will chant, which in Buddhist tradition "helps the soul find a safe place and send it to heaven," Kea said.
The monks will deliver what are known as the Five Precepts, which warn followers to abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, telling lies or using alcohol and drugs, Srey said.
"It's ironic when Buddha says abstain from killing and then we go to war, but to me, even going to war we don't mean to kill someone but to protect someone," Kea said. "Buddha says even if someone hurts you, you don't take revenge, but as human beings in any culture we sometimes do what is best for our family and for our country first."
The monks complete the ceremony by chanting a message to spread love and to show compassion to all beings. The service will be conducted mainly in Khmer, but will be translated into English, Kea said.
Incense and candles will burn near the casket, which will sit on a platform decorated with floral paper and colored lace. Mourners will sit in the outdoor courtyard of the temple, where the walls are painted with brightly colored Buddhist frescoes.
Kea said it is common for Cambodian-Americans outside of Modesto to converge on the temple to celebrate marriages and to grieve for those who have died.
After living through decades of war in Cambodia, Srey said, Long's death was a painful reminder that freedom never comes for free.
"It's easy to fight a visible enemy, but a suicide bomb is invisible," Srey said of the explosion that killed Long. "Terrorism is the worst enemy."
Public services for Long are scheduled for Monday, with a viewing from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Salas Brothers Funeral Chapel, 419 Scenic Drive, Modesto. Afterward, a procession is to drive to Lakewood Memorial Park in Hughson, where burial with full military honors is to begin at 2:30 p.m.
The saffron-robed monks of the Wat Cambodian Buddhist Association will preside over a traditional ceremony today for hundreds of Long's family and friends.
Long, 22, was killed March 10 when a suicide bomber drove a truck filled with explosives into a building he was guarding near Fallujah, in Iraq's Anbar province. He died from shrapnel wounds to his chest, said Marine Capt. Donn Puca.
Long's family retrieved his body Thursday night on the rain-soaked tarmac at Oakland International Airport, where four Marines had escorted the casket from a Naval hospital in Delaware.
His older brother, Bunna, said the family was overwhelmed by lines of supporters who greeted them on the way home in a motorcade of police and sheriff's cars.
Today's ceremony, he said, will be private, though another Monday will let the community say goodbye.
"We've had a lot of well-wishes and people paying their respects," said Bunna Long, 31. "We're thankful for everything they've done for us."
Thursday afternoon, temple elders reflected on Long's sacrifice as they sat on a picnic bench beneath a trio of flags. The American flag was raised highest, flanked by the Cambodian flag and a striped flag representing the Buddhist religion.
Many of the temple's members come from a tradition of serving in the Cambodian army, said Ven Srey, 69, who helped organize Long's funeral. Srey estimates 80 percent of families at the temple have a relative who served. Both Srey and his father were soldiers in Cambodia.
"We consider this country as our country, too," said Ry Kea, a board member and director of the Wat Cambodian Buddhist Association. "Bunny was born here and many of our children were born here. We appreciate his service for protecting the freedom we didn't enjoy in Cambodia."
Kea said Long is viewed as a hero among the temple's more than 450 members, who believe that his death symbolizes the Cambodian community's deep commitment to protecting freedom in their homeland and in the United States. Even Srey, approaching his 70th birthday and speaking Khmer, said he would go and serve in Iraq at a moment's notice if asked.
"Bunny has raised the spirit of the Cambodian community among mainstream culture," Kea said. "Instead of joining gangs and dying in a purposeless way, he died protecting his people. That's what Cambodian boys and girls should look up to."
1.7 million died or were killed
Many in the Cambodian community, including Long's family, escaped to the United States following the fall of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime. In 1979, when the Vietnamese toppled the Khmer Rouge, Bunny Long's father, Sim Long, his mother, Yen Chea, and his siblings Sokha, Sokhom and Bunna escaped through fields full of land mines to refugee camps on the Thailand border. Nearly a quarter of the country's population, as many as 1.7 million people, were executed or died from starvation, overwork or disease. The Long family lost a child only a few months old from starvation in a labor camp. The family eventually came to the United States, and Bunny Long was born in Memphis, Tenn.
This afternoon, Long's family will arrive at the temple wearing white, the Buddhist color of mourning. Long will be dressed in his Marine Corps dress blues in an open casket, which will be placed on a decorated platform under the temple's outdoor archways.
After family and friends stand to "show honor and respect to the soul," Long's family will give eulogies and will be given a chance to pay their respects to his body, Kea said.
Then, the temple's eight Buddhist monks will chant, which in Buddhist tradition "helps the soul find a safe place and send it to heaven," Kea said.
The monks will deliver what are known as the Five Precepts, which warn followers to abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, telling lies or using alcohol and drugs, Srey said.
"It's ironic when Buddha says abstain from killing and then we go to war, but to me, even going to war we don't mean to kill someone but to protect someone," Kea said. "Buddha says even if someone hurts you, you don't take revenge, but as human beings in any culture we sometimes do what is best for our family and for our country first."
The monks complete the ceremony by chanting a message to spread love and to show compassion to all beings. The service will be conducted mainly in Khmer, but will be translated into English, Kea said.
Incense and candles will burn near the casket, which will sit on a platform decorated with floral paper and colored lace. Mourners will sit in the outdoor courtyard of the temple, where the walls are painted with brightly colored Buddhist frescoes.
Kea said it is common for Cambodian-Americans outside of Modesto to converge on the temple to celebrate marriages and to grieve for those who have died.
After living through decades of war in Cambodia, Srey said, Long's death was a painful reminder that freedom never comes for free.
"It's easy to fight a visible enemy, but a suicide bomb is invisible," Srey said of the explosion that killed Long. "Terrorism is the worst enemy."
Public services for Long are scheduled for Monday, with a viewing from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Salas Brothers Funeral Chapel, 419 Scenic Drive, Modesto. Afterward, a procession is to drive to Lakewood Memorial Park in Hughson, where burial with full military honors is to begin at 2:30 p.m.
Bee staff writer Adam Ashton contributed to this report.
Bee staff writer Merrill Balassone can be reached at 578-2337 or mbalassone@modbee.com.
Posted on 03/18/06 00:00:00
1 comment:
This young man is about as old as I am. May his family and friends find solitude and peace from his heroic life taken away beyond strife and misery.
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