For the Allred family of Cache County, it was a heavy-hearted homecoming Friday at Salt Lake City International Airport.
In a caravan of 10 vehicles, family members arrived at the airport to bid a sorrowful welcome and farewell to their fallen Marine, Lance Cpl. Michael Allred. He was among seven American servicemen killed Monday in a terror attack in Fallujah, Iraq.
"Today is a day of mixed emotions and feelings," said father Brett Allred as he prepared to join a Marine honor guard of eight to retrieve his son's body from air hangar 13 as the plane arrived Friday evening. "We're going to get our son off the plane, but I'd much rather it be that he was alive so I could put my arms around him," the father said, holding back tears.
A crowd of friends and family gathered outside the gate fence, holding American flags and sporting buttons with Cpl. Allred's portrait.
The difficult journey began with news that two Utah Marines were among the seven killed in the Fallujah attack. In addition to 22-year-old Allred of Hyde Park, 22-year-old Quinn Keith of Blanding, a member of the Navajo Nation, also was killed. They belonged to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
This week also marked a milestone as it was announced that the death toll of U.S. troops in Iraq had topped 1,000. Fighting among U.S. forces and Iraqi militants has raged in the past few months since Iraq was given sovereignty. Friday's events gave frightening clarity to the events for Allred's family.
As the funeral car passed, family members waved flags, shed years and placed their hands upon their hearts. The casket was briefly pulled out of the back of the car and one by one, family members placed their hands upon the flag-draped casket.
Brett Allred said it was obviously not a homecoming that a father of a Marine wanted, but he said his family believed that his son's death had meaning.
"We believed in his mission. We believed he was in the right place at the right time," Brett Allred said. The father also thanked friends and his community for the generous outpouring of support. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brett Allred said, they have received condolences from LDS Church members worldwide.
For Marine Capt. Christian Portiss and his fellow Marines, Friday was a somber time to bring home one of their fallen brothers.
Portiss said the flag-draped casket was taken out of the shipping container and slowly walked to the car. "It's out of respect for the dead," he said. Having himself served in Iraq, Portiss said he has seen the difference the U.S. armed forces have made.
"He gave all that he could to serve his nation, as did the six others who were with him," Portiss said.
An escort of two Utah Highway Patrol motorcycles led the Allred caravan on the trip back home to Hyde Park, where their Marine will be laid to rest Monday.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com