Russell G. Culbertson III

Russell G. Culbertson III

Company C 1-22 Infantry

4th Infantry Division (Mechanized)

KIA October 17, 2006

Oct 27, 2006 7:10 pm US/Eastern

Local Soldier Killed In Iraq Laid To Rest
(KDKA) BRIDGEVILLE A local soldier killed in Iraq was laid to rest today.

Twenty-two year-old Army Specialist Russell Culbertson Jr. was one of four soldiers killed by a road-side bomb on Tuesday.

Today, loved ones said their final good-byes in Bridgeville.

Culbertson joined the Army in 2004 after graduating from Trinity High School in Washington County.

He was buried not far from the area where he grew up.

Culbertson was killed when a road-side bomb detonated near the Humvee he was riding in.

"The message was one of dedication and service to the country," said Roy Buford of the Bethany Presbyterian Church.
"It certainly was a service about the young man who was killed and his life and his story."

Culbertson was a tank gunner with the Fourth Infantry Division.

He had been in Iraq since December 15.

While the Bethany Presbyterian Church in Bridgeville was filled with people who knew and loved Culbertson,
it was clear that those who were outside were touched by him also.

"I don't know what to say to a mother who has lost a son other than to say I'm sorry," said Annette Savtavicco of Bridgeville.
"He is in God's hands now. He is safe. He is healthy and she will see her son again."

Members of the Patriot Guard joined the procession.

For these men and women, the goal is quite simple.

"We want people to know that we honor the sacrifices of these we consider heroes," said Donald Bright, one of the Patriot Riders.

Even some of the youngest in the community felt the same way.

Many came out today to show honor to those considered heroes as well.

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

KDKA

http://kdka.com

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In a November 16, 2006 memorial service held at Ft Hood, CPT Dennis Ceder had the following to say:
"Cpl. Russell G. Culbertson III, 22, loved fast cars, and his best friend was his sister."

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A final farewell to Washington County soldier killed in Iraq
Saturday, October 28, 2006

Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette
Funeral services for Army Spc. Russell Culbertson yesterday.

At right, the flag-draped casket of Army Spc. Russell Culbertson was removed from a hearse shortly before a funeral at Bethany Presbyterian Church.
Spc. Culbertson received a final salute yesterday, 10 days after he was killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, Iraq. He was 22.

Soldiers carried his coffin into Bethany Presbyterian Church in Bridgeville. Vietnam veterans who assembled outside held U.S. flags.
One man, not a flag bearer, hunched over and cried.

Spc. Culbertson, of Lone Pine in Washington County, was a 2003 graduate of Trinity High School and a tank gunner with the 4th Infantry Division.

Three other soldiers were killed with him in the Oct. 17 explosion. They included a second man from Pennsylvania,
2nd Lt. Christopher E. Loudon, 23, of Brockport in Elk County.

http://www.post-gazette.com

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