Erwin King’s niece Judith LaBonte Richard speaks at his funeral Tuesday at Flynn & Dagnoli Funeral Home.

NORTH ADAMS, Massachusetts – The community came together in large numbers Tuesday to pay their final respects to long-missing World War II Marine Erwin S. King.

Veterans, officials, community members and students from King’s alma mater, Drury High School, and McCann Technical School, greeted the funeral procession at Southview Cemetery, where King was buried with full military honors next to his parents, Erwin and Emilia King, 82 years to the day after his death on Guadalcanal.

His remains arrived in the Berkshires on Friday and a brief wreath-laying ceremony was held at Clarksburg City Hall, where his name is on the city’s honor roll.

He grew up in Clarksburg and was unexpectedly born in Shaftsbury, Vermont, when his parents’ car broke down. They gave him Shaftsbury as a middle name and he grew up with the nickname “Shazy.”

“One of his greatest dreams as a child was to join the United States Marines,” said his nephew Bruce LaBonte, who traveled from Bradenton, Florida, to attend his uncle’s funeral Tuesday at Flynn & Dagnoli Funeral Home.

“When he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor at age 17, he asked my grandfather if he could enlist in the Marines. He initially refused, but later, after being constantly asked if he wanted to serve his country, he persuaded our grandfather to sign the permission papers to join the Marines.”

King had turned 18 when he was aboard a ship crossing the Pacific. On the second day of the battle, he disembarked at Guadalcanal and was killed by a Japanese machine gun nest along with nine others in his company. They were buried near the spot where they had fallen, and attempts to recover them after the war were unsuccessful for over 70 years.

LaBonte said his grandfather blamed himself for allowing King to join the Army, but they had not given up hope that at least his body would be returned and had purchased the grave so he could lie next to them.

Dalton American Legion riders and North Adams police escorted the funeral procession as it traveled along the route in Southview, lined with small American flags placed by veterans organizations and students representing the Bay State’s 2,883 soldiers missing in action.

A Marine squad stood as pallbearers, honor guard and rifle salute while a Marine chaplain led the service. LaBonte was presented with King’s dog tags and the flag from his casket, which contained a full Marine dress uniform.

King’s relatives wore brooches with a picture of him in uniform and red, white and blue ribbons made by great-niece Lisa Pruden Miottke. None of the relatives who attended the services were there when King was alive, but Miottke said some remember older relatives talking about him. Most of the relatives were children and grandchildren of King’s sisters, Lucille King LaBonte and Gertrude King Clarke.

“You have to understand that this man was killed in the war, about five years before I was born,” LaBonte said. “And so much time passed before we learned anything about his remains being found and we were going to bring him home… we remembered him, we had photo albums and a picture of him. But to say I was overwhelmed when I got that call would be an understatement. I almost dropped the phone. I couldn’t believe it. After 82 years, my sister said on the phone, ‘Bruce, you’ll never guess – Uncle Shaz has been found.'”

King’s niece, Judith LaBonte Richard of New Hampshire, said at the funeral that it was not easy to pay their last respects to a man they did not know.

“Still, it is an honor to honor a hero. If your sister, our mother, were here today, she could tell the stories of your youth,” she said. “She could tell us of your hopes, she could tell us that you were her little brother and that she loved you very much and never forgot you. It was not until I was much older that I understood and experienced the tears she shed on the Memorial Day holiday and also why she really shed them.

“If your father and mother, our grandfather and grandmother were here today, they could tell you that your one great mission was to join the Marine Corps. And as history tells, when America entered the war, they gave you their consent to enlist. Your greatest goal was accomplished. Your sacrifice will never go unnoticed. Your sacrifice will forever be in our hearts, your sacrifice is the reason we are the home of the brave and the beacon of the free.”

Among the mourners were Michael and Lisa DeMarsico, whose son, Army Pvt. First Class Michael DeMarsico Jr., was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan and buried not far away in Southview. Like King, he was a young man and Drury University graduate who was passionate about serving his country. Lisa DeMarsico said her son always looked up to men like King who fought in World War II.

“It’s like he’s already up there with Erwin. I know they exchange stories,” she said. “Tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.”

City veterans commissioner Mitchell Kiel, who helped coordinate the funeral, said family members called King’s return a miracle.

“That’s really the only way to see it,” he said. “Especially considering they tried twice three or four years later and in the ’40s and couldn’t find the location. The fact that they were actually able to identify her and there are still relatives, even in the area, and you couldn’t ask for better community involvement.”

King’s niece, Lynda LaBonte Pruden of Pownal, Vermont, thanked the Marines, anthropologists and scientists who brought King home.

“I can’t tell you how much this means to our family. I know what it means to my mom and my aunts and uncles and my grandparents and all of us here because you all came to us as an honor to our family. We are privileged to have you all here with us today. It’s an honor and I can’t say it because they’ll page me out, but it’s a miracle that he’s here and we thank you for being here.”

Keywords: MIA, military funeral, World War,