Casualty of Persian Gulf Action Is Eulogized : Funeral: Air Force Staff Sgt. John Francis Campisi of West Covina is remembered as a peacemaker by friends.

Friends and family gathered Saturday in West Covina at an emotional funeral service for Air Force Staff Sgt. John Francis Campisi, the first U.S. serviceman to die in the Persian Gulf since the current troop buildup began.

An estimated 300 mourners heard Campisi remembered as a peacemaker and a career serviceman who was willing to make sacrifices for his family, friends and country.

Longtime friend, fellow altar boy and parochial schoolmate Mark Rizkowsky, 30, of Ontario recalled Campisi as “the one we always called peacemaker.” Rizkowsky fought back tears as he spoke of his close friendship with Campisi. “No matter where he was stationed, we always kept in touch.”

Rizkowsky added that Campisi did not die in vain. “John died for a reason, a reason that meant a lot to John and to all of us. . . . So that his, mine and all our children may never have to fight in a war. They can always live in peace.”

During the one-hour funeral Mass at St. Christopher Catholic Church, Msgr. Helmet Hefner told mourners that Campisi’s death serves as a “very real and concrete sign” of the sacrifices soldiers make.

“There’s certainly a great sacrifice involved in young people leaving their families, friends and going across seas to desert sands to defend ideals of freedom and justice,” Hefner said.

Speaking of the pain and destruction of war, Hefner expressed hope that others, including the 50,000 American troops already stationed in the Persian Gulf, would not have to die in the standoff with Iraq.

“We hope the pain of John Campisi’s family will not be repeated,” he said. “We must realize the cost of war. We must not let some madman (Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein) who cries out for a Holy War, as if war could be ever holy, stampede us.”

Another friend of Campisi’s, for nearly 25 years, David Saldana, 30, of West Covina told the congregation: “I don’t consider myself lucky (to have known Campisi), I consider myself blessed. The miles could never separate us and neither will his passing.”

Campisi, 30, was hit by a truck and killed Aug. 12--three weeks before his 31st birthday--on a darkened aircraft runway in Saudi Arabia, five days after the first U.S. troops set up operations in the country. Pentagon sources have said that Campisi may have been wearing protective ear gear and failed to hear the oncoming vehicle.

After the Mass, the ceremony continued under hazy skies at the Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Rowland Heights. An Air Force honor guard performed a traditional 21-gun salute while six military pallbearers and four flag bearers stood at attention.

After a bugler played “Taps,” the American flag draped over the airman’s casket was neatly folded and presented to Campisi’s wife, Charlene, who cried silently with her eldest daughter and youngest son at her side. Another flag was presented to Campisi’s mother.

In addition to his wife of 11 years, Campisi leaves four children: Anna, 9, John, Jr., 8, Chris, 7, and Jennifer, 4. His parents, Salvatore and Marjorie Campisi, live in West Covina where he grew up.

Campisi served as an aircraft maintenance technician and had been in the Air Force since he was 18. Before his duty in the Middle East, Campisi lived with his family at Offutt Air Force Base, near Omaha, Neb.

Campisi also leaves a sister and three brothers. One of the brothers is a Navy chief petty officer and another recently enlisted in the Navy.