Services Set for Marine Slain at Father’s Home

Funeral plans were announced Thursday for Lance Cpl. Sok Khak Ung, who survived an Iraq war blast only to be slain in his father’s Long Beach yard last weekend, along with his friend, Vouthy Tho.

A service with full military honors will be held in San Francisco on Monday for Ung, 22, a member of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit who earned a Purple Heart after being wounded by shrapnel in mid-April. A public viewing is set for 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Valencia Street Serra Mortuary, 1465 Valencia St. Ung, the son of Cambodian-born Buddhists, will rest in a flag-draped casket for an 11 a.m. ceremony to “bless the body,” said Alcira Serra of the Mission District mortuary.

Ung’s cousin, Vanthy Cheng, said the family believes his soul lingers until it learns its destiny on the seventh day after death.

That would be Sunday, when offerings will be made during the service to accompany the soul to heaven, while monks pray, Cheng said.

Afterward, a procession will go to the military graveside service at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, where a bugle and rifle corps will play taps and give a 21-gun salute. The flag from Ung’s casket will be presented to his parents, said a Marine Corps spokesman at Camp Pendleton, where Ung was stationed.

Long Beach police said Thursday they are seeking the public’s help in finding the killer. They have no motive for the shootings, which occurred about 1 a.m. Sunday at the in the 1200 block of East 7th Street.

The Long Beach City Council, faced with an emotional plea by the Ung and Tho families for an arrest, voted to add $15,000 to a $10,000 reward offered by Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe for information that leads to the killer’s conviction.

A fund was started at Washington Mutual Bank to help both families with expenses. The United Cambodian Community service organization will create a similar fund, a director there said.

A viewing for Tho will be held from 1 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Forest Lawn in Long Beach. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the same location.