The grieving is not over for Cherone Gunn’s family and
friends. His funeral, a Roman Catholic Mass of Christian Burial was held
Thursday night, at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in
Norfolk, Virginia. The Basilica was standing room only and included Navy
Honor Guards. Cherone Gunn was buried with full military honors at Arlington
National Cemetery on Friday.
The Gunn’s say they want Cherone’s name to live on.
They say the overwhelming show of support has helped ease the pain, especially
the personal visit from President Clinton. "I seen a lot of pain in him,
behind this, and I know he had just left the Middle East and came here and I
know he was probably tired and stressed," said Louge Gunn, Cherone’s
father.
"I told the President, don't let my brother's death
be in vain. He said ‘we won't, we won't forget Cherone at all.’ That just
made me so happy," said Jamal Gunn, Cherone’s brother.
(Cherone's father at Arlington National Cemetery)
But Wednesday’s memorial service on the Norfolk Naval
Base, also took its toll on the Gunn family, including his fiancée.
"Just being on the base and close to where he was and I was honestly just
jealous of all the other families that had their sailors come home and it was
really, really hard for me to see that. But the support was wonderful,"
said Lora Liddell.
And now, the Gunn’s want to pass on that support to
help someone else, through a scholarship fund in Cherone's name. They know
Cherone would approve. "It's going to be something that we'll always
cherish, that we'll always remember him by. We'll never forget him anyway, not
that smile," said Louge Gunn.