It was tough keeping a dry eye during the memorial service for Sgt. Louis Robert Fastuca at SS. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church in East Goshen. It was even tougher afterward, while driving to the cemetery.
Louis, 24, was killed in an IED blast July 5 in Afghanistan. He was a member of the First Battalion, 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade Combat Team, and had been in Afghanistan since December. He had been home on leave just weeks before.
Visitation on July 21 began at 10 a.m., 21/2 hours ahead of the scheduled Mass, and had run for six hours the day before. Still people were waiting to offer condolences to the family when it was time for the service to start.
Those who stood quietly in line walked by several poster boards full of photos of the most important things in Louis' all-too-brief life. There was the skinny kid with the huge, dazzling smile. Posing with his parents, Robert and Monette. More with his younger brothers, Joseph and Anthony. And relatives galore - his dad is one of 10 kids and his mom one of six. There was Louis playing ice hockey. At the piano. Horsing around at Ocean City. Graduating from Malvern Prep, Class of 2004. And before you knew it, there was a tall, strapping young man in uniform. And always, always, that smile.
The citations for his Purple Heart and Bronze Star, and other decorations and awards, were at the front of the church, where the line turned for mourners to file past the open casket, just below the church altar.
SS. Peter and Paul seats about 800, and latecomers struggled to find a pew to squeeze into.
In his homily, the Rev. James R. Flynn, O.S.A., head of Malvern Prep, remembered a shy, almost timid Louis, who sometimes had trouble finding his niche. The family had moved to Chester County when Louis was in middle school, and he transferred to Malvern in the 10th grade. But Louis didn't make excuses. He pushed himself to become stronger and more self-confident, through music and sports - even taking up boxing.
Long before he put on a uniform, he was serving others. When the mother of Ed Liga, Malvern's choral teacher, died, Louis composed a song in her honor, "Heartfelt Goodbyes." Liga returned the favor, playing it at Louis' Mass.
