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Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009

Fallen 48th soldier's funeral held in Milledgeville

MILLEDGEVILLE — Staff Sgt. Alex French IV, a Bibb County Sheriff’s deputy killed in Afghanistan while serving with the Georgia Army National Guard, was laid to rest in Milledgeville on Saturday after a public funeral service at Baldwin County High School.

French, 31, is survived by his mother, Gwen French, his wife, Shanoca, and his three children, Alex, Alexis and Madison.

In an emotion-packed eulogy, J. Tekulve Martial-Vann, a cousin of French, praised his sense of duty.

“He put duty and devotion above the comfort of civilian life,” he said.

Officials from both Bibb County and Baldwin County spoke during the 90-minute service. French worked for the Scott State Prison outside of Milledgeville from 2000 to 2003.

“When we lose one of our own, it’s personal,” said Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee. “Today, we don’t come to bury someone from Oregon. We came to bury someone from our hometown ... this was our soldier.”

French spent nearly his entire life in Milledgeville. In 1996, he graduated from Baldwin County High School before enlisting in the Navy. When he finished his enlistment, he signed up for the Georgia Army National Guard and returned home.

In 2003, he took a job as a deputy to the Bibb County sheriff, who remembered him fondly Saturday.

“He was respected by his peers, he was respected by the public he served,” said Sheriff Jerry Modena.

The memorial service for French — a devout Christian, according to those who knew him — was punctuated with plenty of inspirational songs.

At one particularly poignant moment, a friend of French stood behind his casket and started singing “America the Beautiful.”

Bar by bar, the audience of about 1,000 gradually rose to its feet, singing along, right hand on left breast.

Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., also spoke briefly during the ceremony. While acknowledging that he did not know French personally, Marshall urged his friends and family to “earn this” sacrifice, quoting the dying words of the protagonist (played by Tom Hanks) in the 1998 film “Saving Private Ryan.”

“Those of us who live, those of us who survive, we need to live up to the sacrifice of Staff Sgt. French,” Marshall said.

French was buried Saturday afternoon at Scenic Cemetery in Milledgeville, a short distance from Baldwin County High School.