Brett Lundstrom and his mother, Doyla, planned to move to the Denver area by April after he returned from Iraq.
The native of Vermillion, S.D., was serving as a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps and wanted to move to Colorado because he loved the mountains and wanted to be closer to relatives, family members said.
But Doyla Lundstrom must now make the move alone.
Brett Lundstrom, 22, a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe, was laid to rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery just south of Denver on Wednesday.
During the funeral, Lundstrom’s mother accepted the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Ribbon that her son was awarded for the fatal gunshot wounds he received from enemy fire during combat in Fallujah. Lundstrom died Jan. 7 in Iraq’s Anbar Province.
Joe Lundstrom, Brett’s uncle, said his nephew knew he was going to emulate his father, Edward Lundstrom, by serving as a Marine.
“Like any young kid, he was nervous,” Joe Lundstrom said. “But he was doing what he loved.”
Brett Lundstrom joined up in January 2003 when he was 19, and served in Afghanistan from September through December 2004.
Lundstrom came home briefly before being deployed to Iraq in September 2005, said cousin Victoria Munoz of Thornton.
Munoz said she talked to him on Dec. 26 about his plans to come home and go on vacation to Cancún, Mexico.
“He had the most amazing smile, and his laugh was contagious,” said Victoria’s sister Amanda Munoz. “He loved playing pool and everything was kind of a bet for him.”
The funeral service was held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Northglenn, where members of the Rocky Mountain Christian Motorcycle Association, the Patriot Guard Riders, several veterans and at least three mothers of Marines Corps officers stood outside waving American flags in the high winds.
The service at the cemetery incorporated the traditions of both a military funeral and Native American culture.
Gov. Bill Owens paid respects to the family, and Denver’s Plenty Wolf Singers performed two drum chants. They burned sage, said performer John Edwards, which represents “purification and prepares the spirit for entering the spirit world.”
Edwards said the group chanted a memorial song and a warrior song to celebrate Lundstrom’s native heritage as a warrior of the Lakota people.
“It is about bringing him home,” Edwards said. “He is coming home to his people and family.”
Staff writer Katherine Crowell can be reached at kcrowell@denverpost.com.
