Name: Marine Lance Cpl. Travis M. Nelson
Age: 19 From: Pace, FL Assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Incident: Marine Lance Cpl. Travis M. Nelson
died Aug. 18 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Fallen Marine&rsquos body returns home
By Thyrie Bland
Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal
PENSACOLA, Fla. &mdash When the rain began to pour, many of the people lining Navy Boulevard ran for cover, but not Glenda Conrady.
Dressed in a red T-shirt, ball cap, white capri pants and gym shoes, Conrady stood motionless holding four American flags in her hands.
She was among the more than 50 people who showed up Aug. 24 to pay their respects to Marine Lance Cpl. Travis Nelson, 19. The Pace High School graduate was shot to death Aug. 18 while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan.
&ldquoA little rain was not a big deal,&rdquo said Conrady, 55, of Pensacola. &ldquoThat&rsquos how important it is to be here supporting the families &mdash the men and women in the military. I&rsquom proud to stand here in the rain.&rdquo
Nelson&rsquos body arrived at 2 p.m. at Naval Air Station Pensacola, where his family waited. A long motorcade that included the Patriot Guard Riders, deputies and state troopers escorted the hearse from NAS to Petty-Eastside Funeral Home in Atmore, Ala.
Conrady wore a T-shirt that she made to honor Nelson. Nelson&rsquos name is on the front of the shirt and a quote from his Facebook page is on the back.
The shirt read: &ldquoI&rsquoll carry this flag to the grave if I must &lsquocause it&rsquos the flag that I love and a flag that I trust.&rdquo
The crowd began to gather at Navy Boulevard and Interbay Avenue, which is near the main entrance of NAS Pensacola, at about 1:30 p.m.
Some were former military members. Others have children and spouses in the military. The rest had no direct ties to the military.
Conrady&rsquos husband, Kevin, 54, is a retired Navy warrant officer. Her son, Hank, 21, is in the Navy. Conrady said she does not worry about what will happen if her son is deployed.
&ldquoThat&rsquos why they join &mdash to serve their country,&rdquo she said. &ldquoIt&rsquos an honor to serve their country.&rdquo
It was 92 degrees when the crowd started to arrive on Navy Boulevard. It wasn&rsquot long before a dark cloud loomed in the sky. Thunder and lightning soon followed.
Sometime after 2:30 p.m., a downpour hit. Some people scurried under a building&rsquos overhang and others gathered under umbrellas. By the time the procession began to roll along Navy Boulevard shortly before 3 p.m., the rain had stopped.
Most of the people gathered held up American flags as the fleet of motorcycles and marked law enforcement vehicles passed them. Others saluted.
Judith Seward, 56, of Pensacola held a large flag that used to fly outside her home.
&ldquoI don&rsquot know his family, but it&rsquos the least I could do,&rdquo she said. &ldquoI&rsquom honored to be out here waving my flag for him and paying my respects.&rdquo
Bill Weeks, 55, was among several members of the J.R. Spears Marine Corps League who came to honor Nelson.
Weeks&rsquo son, William, 24, leaves for his second tour in Afghanistan on Sept. 17.
&ldquoAll Marines are brothers,&rdquo he said. &ldquoI realize it could be my son. My wife couldn&rsquot come ... because of that.&rdquo
Died: August 18, 2011