Marines Salute Ace Felled While Defending His Wife

The Marine Corps and scores of mourners paid final respects Thursday to the Corps’ first flying ace, Maj. Gen. Marion Carl, who survived three wars but died defending his wife at home.

More than 100 Marines and an equal number of old soldiers and other mourners stood silently on a sloping hill as four Marine FA-18 jets flew overhead in a missing man formation. A seven-man squad fired three volleys in a 21-gun salute.

Afterward, those who knew and admired the 82-year-old war hero focused on his feats--surviving battles at Guadalcanal and Midway, setting speed and altitude records as a test pilot--rather than his death at the hands of a robber with a sawed-off shotgun.

Carl shot down 18 enemy aircraft in World War II, flew U-2 spy flights over Red China and saw combat in Vietnam. He won the Navy Cross twice for taking up his fighter against overwhelming odds.

Although in failing health, Carl lunged at a robber who kicked in the door of his home outside Roseburg, Ore., June 28 and fired a shot that grazed the head of Carl’s wife, Edna. The man fled with $400 and Mrs. Carl’s car.

The Corps remembered him the Marine way. More than 100 Marines in dress blues stood ramrod straight with bayoneted rifles as a hearse containing Carl’s casket arrived for the funeral. Officers wore black armbands and had black knots at the end of their swords.

Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), Carl’s friend and fellow former Marine, stood at attention, his hand on his heart, as Carl’s body was carried into a small Arlington chapel for a private service.

A Marine band played “Faith of Our Fathers.”

After the service, the band marched slowly ahead of the Marine formation and horses pulling Carl’s flag-draped casket. A black-saddled, riderless horse followed, symbolizing the fallen soldier.

At the graveside service, the neatly folded flag from the casket was handed to Edna Carl, who sat stern-faced and said: “Thank you.”

As the funeral was held, the murder suspect, Jesse Fanus, 19, was preparing for his first appearance in a Los Angeles courtroom.

Fanus had been arrested Sunday in a phone booth in Pasadena.