Every week

Another Marine, another funeral

Tears in Queens for a lost Marine

BY LESLIE CASIMIR and CELESTE KATZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

A young marine whose journey to a new life in the United States ended in death during a battle in an Iraqi war zone was mourned yesterday by scores of loved ones in Queens.

Marine Cpl. Julian Ramon, 22, a Colombian immigrant who lived in Flushing, was fatally injured July 20 by an explosion during combat operations in Iraq's Anbar Province, an area rife with insurgent activity.

"He was a good son, a good cousin, a good nephew, a good grandson. He was great with all his family members," said Ramon's cousin Maria Camilla Mutis.

"Since he died on the independence day of Colombia, he will be liberated from this world and from all pain," she added.

"The smile that he always gave to his family members will always stay in our hearts."

Mourners brushed tears from their eyes during the solemn service at St. Michael's Church, which featured a Mass celebrated in Spanish.

Ramon came to the United States at age 4.

After graduating from John Bowne High School in Jamaica and working briefly at an Off-Track Betting parlor, he enlisted in the Marines, hoping later to attend college and have a career in criminal justice.

We don't run many of these, because they seem to happen once a week in New York. Guardsmen, active duty Army, Marines. They keep dying while Bush's body man goes to Harvard Business School without a BA, and Barbara conducts tours at the Cooper-Hewitt.

For some odd reason, that just doesn't seem fair, or just.