A Farewell to Slain Marine : Memorial: Family, friends and fellow servicemen gathered to remember a gunnery sergeant whose shooting death in the Philippines is still under investigation.

The tiny square chapel at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station brimmed with family and friends, civilian and military, who came to bid a solemn farewell Wednesday to Gunnery Sgt. John S. Fredette, whose murder in the Philippines is still a mystery.

“Our country, the Marines and (his squadron) have lost one of their few proud and good men,” said Cmdr. Norm O. Williams, a Navy chaplain. “His wife has lost her best love and her best friend. His family has lost a good son and a good brother. . . . But our loss is heaven’s gain.”

Fredette, 34, was killed by a single bullet to the head

Friday night as he walked in a town near the Subic Bay naval base, 50 miles west of Manila.

The death is still under investigation, although earlier in the week, Philippine police had speculated he was shot by Communist rebels, who have threatened to kill American service members. But on Tuesday, the police said a Filipino confessed that he accidentally shot Fredette during a failed robbery attempt.

U.S. officials in the Philippines have now lifted a ban on off-post leaves imposed in the wake of Fredette’s death, but they introduced a late-night curfew because of continuing threats from Communist rebels.

Fredette, who served in the Marines for 13 years, will be buried in his hometown of Chicopee, Mass., later this week.

At the El Toro memorial service, fellow Marines and others joined Fredette’s widow, Julie Ann, her parents and other family members in remembering the man who had gone to the Philippines on temporary duty.

Someone had placed a single red rose beside a photo of Fredette in full-dress uniform that sat on a small round table at the front of the chapel, facing the worshipers. Soldiers walked in carrying American and military flags that surrounded his picture during the brief ceremony. Several Marines stepped forward to read passages from the Old and New Testaments.

Marine Master Sgt. W.F. Kennedy said Fredette rose through the ranks of the Boy Scouts when he was growing up in Chicopee, attaining Eagle Scout status. He joined the Marines at age 18 and served in three squadrons.

He was an electronics expert and had been awarded several medals, including Marine Expeditionary Medal, and pistol and rifle expert awards.

Said Lt. Col. Pete Jacobs, executive officer of Marine Aircraft Group 11, which oversees Fredette’s squadron: “We’ve lost a good Marine. He’s a symbol of what America stands for. All Marines here today extend to his family and friends our deepest and most heartfelt sympathy.”

Julie Ann Fredette’s brother-in-law, Larry Reeder, said the family had been in Las Vegas on Saturday when word of the slaying arrived.

Julie Ann was going to serve as matron of honor to her only sister, Lorri, who was marrying Reeder, when a Marine officer arrived to tell her the news. After much discussion, Julie Ann persuaded the family to go on with the wedding, Reeder said.

He praised his sister-in-law for the strength and composure she has shown through the ordeal.

“I had very mixed emotions about going through with it,” he said. “It was hard for my wife also, because how was she supposed to enjoy what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life when her sister’s happiest moment had been snuffed out not 24 hours earlier?

“It was almost too much for me to deal with,” he said. “But Julie Ann said that John would have wanted it.”