Tulsa World: Fallen Marine honored

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Fallen Marine honored

By TOM DROEGE World Staff Writer
Published: 8/14/2005 4:49 AM
Last Modified: 1/19/2009 12:43 AM

Cowetans with flags line streets for Sgt. James Graham's funeral procession.

COWETA -- He wasn't born here and many residents didn't know he was a local.

But news of the Marine's death inspired several hundred people carrying American flags to line the streets early Saturday as the grieving family passed en route to the funeral.

"I didn't know the family, but that doesn't matter," Flo Waldrup said as she waved a flag. "We just want to show our support."

A suicide car bomber killed 25-year-old Marine Sgt. James Randolph Graham III during a combat operation Aug. 1 in Iraq, the military reported.

Graham lived in Coweta with his wife, Melissa, and two sons, James, 9, and Thomas, 6. He was mobilized in January and sent to Iraq about a month later.

The suicide attack happened near Hit, a small town northwest of Ramadi in Al Anbar province, the military reported.

Coweta, a town of about 8,000 southwest of Tulsa, has not felt the cost of war like this since Vietnam, when several hometown soldiers were killed in combat.

"We've had so much tragedy," said Wanda Woodward, whose husband, Roy, remembers cutting the hair of one of those Vietnam soldiers at his barber shop.

The pain was tempered with upbeat patriotism on Saturday as people unfurled American flags of all sizes along the road from downtown Coweta to the Broken Arrow Expressway.

Riding

in white limousines, the Graham family passed the crowds on the way to Arrow Heights Baptist Church in Broken Arrow for the funeral.

There, Graham was remembered as a hard worker, who learned responsibility at a young age after becoming a father at 15. He attended Tulsa Hale High School and married his school sweetheart, Melissa, in 1997.

"From the time they were in high school they were inseparable," Graham's father-in-law, Bob Bratton, said during the service.

Graham, best known as "J," started working at a Subway restaurant and eventually managed several others before he went to work for QuikTrip.

"My first impression was J was irresponsible and wet behind the ears," Bratton said. "My impression was wrong. At 18 and 19, he carried responsibility like many adults don't carry responsibility."

At roughly 5 feet 7 inches tall and 155 pounds, Graham was outsized by many Marines and civilians.

"Although J was not a big man physically, he was a huge man of character," Bratton said. "He was dedicated to his job and family."

He enlisted in the Marines and joined the Anti-Tank Training Company in Broken Arrow. He was an operator of TOW missiles -- handheld tube-launched rockets -- in the Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division.

As teenagers, Spencer Allen and Graham achieved the rank of Eagle Scout together, and each later served as best man at the other's wedding.

Allen spoke at Graham's funeral, saying he regretted missing opportunities to spend more time with Graham.

"He was just an ordinary guy who was always willing to lend a hand," Allen said. "I'm convinced that his death was not in vain. He was doing it to protect us here."

After a full military salute, a bugler played taps and Graham was buried with full military honors at Floral Haven Memorial Gardens in Broken Arrow.

Tom Droege 581-8361
tom.droege@tulsaworld.com

By TOM DROEGE World Staff Writer

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