Fitzmorris is buried with full military honors
COLUMBIA - Services for Spc. Steven J. Fitzmorris were held Tuesday at Memorial Funeral Home in Columbia. The funeral was followed by a burial complete with full military honors in Memorial Park Cemetery. Fitzmorris was killed in action in Baghdad on Aug. 25.
The family chose to keep the funeral and burial private. A more public memorial was held Sunday, when Fitzmorris was flown home to Columbia. Memorial Funeral Home invited the public to come and show support and sympathy, as well as line the streets of the city in a procession to the funeral home.
The funeral on Tuesday was a closed ceremony. Afterward, funeral attendees drove through the cemetery street, lined with American flags, to the burial site. They were received by a U.S. Army Honor Guard along with Patriot Guard Riders holding American flags.
Those who did not know Fitzmorris also attended the burial to show their support. Warren and Ann Livingston waited along the roadside in the cemetery for the funeral procession. The Livingstons have a son who is in the Army and had served in Iraq for 15 months.
"The family needed to see our support," Ann Livingston said. Her son, Eric Livingston, will return to Iraq in the fall as a chaplain's assistant. "The military is very dear to our hearts."
Giving their condolences to the family, the Livingstons said they felt strongly that their being there was the right thing to do.