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Hundreds Attend Funeral in York for Marine Killed in Afghanistan

Posted: 9:33 AM Jul 6, 2012
Reporter: Kim Eiten

Marine Laid to Rest in York - Kim Eiten Live

Lance Corporal Hunter Hogan, 21-years-old, was born in Nebraska but since has spent most of his life in Indiana.

That didn't stop hundreds from turning out as he was laid to rest Friday in his father's hometown.

Those in the crowd said, as the they stood there, they were witnessing the true cost of freedom.

Even though many did not know the young man they were there to honor, they said the show of support is part of being American.

They said it's about remembering and honoring.

It brought hundreds out to the streets of York to pay tribute to a man who may not have grown up in York, but will now forever call it home.

"Hunter H.D. Hogan, fearless and brave, man, he sure could cowboy," Jim Hogan, Hunter Hogan's grandfather, said.

Lance Corporal Hunter Hogan, or H.D. as friends and family called him, was killed in combat late last month.

"We, as family and friends of H.D., have all suffered a tremendous blow with the loss of an amazing young hero," Jim Hogan said.

That hero, one of thousands of recent military deaths overseas.

That's what brought the crowd out. Many said it's about paying tribute, not just to Hogan, but to all the fallen.

"Freedom definitely is not free and anybody that thinks it is needs to be here with us," York resident Dena Basinger said.

Terry Kelly knows that firsthand as a veteran himself.

He stood outside the church today for almost three hours, holding the American flag.

He says it's his patriotic duty.

"It makes me feel proud, sad, but proud," Kelly said.

But for Hunter Hogan's family, his grandfather said it's the loss of a young man and the three "F's" that guided his life: family, friends and fun.

He said the comments they've received since his death show just that.

"Going down the list of posts, they all ended with H.D. was my best friend, period," Jim Hogan said.

Aside from all those who lined the streets, the Freedom Riders were in attendance as well as a large group on horseback, paying tribute to Hogan's love of rodeo.

Hogan leaves behind a wife, Brittney, of New Bern, N.C.