Marine gets full honors

TAMPA -- Cpl. Antonio J. Sledd, the U.S. Marine killed by terrorists last week in Kuwait, will have a military funeral at 11 a.m. today at Bay Pines National Cemetery in St. Petersburg.

The ceremony will be open to the public.

On Monday, friends and relatives attended a private viewing of Sledd, 20, at the Blount, Curry & Roel Funeral Home in Carrollwood, not far from the family home.

His twin brother, Michael, also a Marine, traveled home from his post in Japan for the services. His mother, Norma Figueroa, has asked President Bush to transfer her remaining son permanently to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa to ensure his safety.

MacDill authorities, who are arranging the memorial service today, said Sledd will receive full military honors, including a 21-gun salute.

Sledd was killed Oct. 8 when two Kuwaiti civilians opened fire on members of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit training in the Persian Gulf. Sledd died, and a fellow Marine, Lance Cpl. George Simpson of Ohio, was wounded in the ambush during the exercise in Failaka, an island 10 miles east of Kuwait City.

Kuwaiti officials said the two Kuwaiti gunmen, cousins ages 21 and 26, had trained in Afghanistan and had fought against anti-Taliban forces. The Kuwaiti government denounced the attack as an act of terrorism.

Sledd, who graduated from Gaither High School in 2000, had said he hoped to become an FBI agent someday. In the spirit of that dream, a Gaither High School scholarship fund is being established in his honor. The fund will support at least one college bound senior each year.

-- Jackie Ripley can be reached at (813) 269-5308 or ripley@sptimes.com. Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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