Funeral for fallen Danville Marine draws nearly 1,800 mourners

When I tell a young veteran that people do really care about them, they are shocked. After all, they never see their stories on cable news. They hardly ever see anything about them. It's one of the reasons this blog is here. Their stories come out across the country but usually on local news stations and in their newspapers.

When they ship out, spend their days in Iraq or Afghanistan, they wonder if anyone really cares about what they are doing other than their own families. When they come home they wonder even more when no one wants to talk to them about anything. When they are wounded and have to fight for benefits, face financial hardships because they can't work, they stop wondering and start believing no one really gives a damn.

Wounded Marine Reenlists from stretcher

Yet they still do things like reenlist. They still want to serve. Even when they can't stay in the military anymore, they end up joining groups giving back to others.

Well, here's a story about a Marine dying in Afghanistan at the age of 19. This story shows that the men and women serving today are not only dedicated, but they are appreciated. 1,800 people showed up for the funeral of Lance Cpl. Joshua "Chachi" Corral. If you know a veteran or someone deployed right now thinking no one cares, pass this onto them so they will know while they never see their stories on major news stations or read about them in big newspapers, most people have not forgotten about them.

Funeral for fallen Danville Marine draws nearly 1,800 mourners

By Paul Thissen
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 11/30/2011

DANVILLE -- It was barely two months after he arrived in Afghanistan and just a few weeks before his 20th birthday. Lance Cpl. Joshua "Chachi" Corral died a Marine; it was what he had long dreamed of becoming.

He excelled at it. At the Marine boot camp, he got a perfect score on his physical fitness test and ran the fastest time among 300 recruits -- despite having a stress fracture.

When he got to the Helmand Province, one of Afghanistan's most volatile, Corral was a "sweeper," a Marine who walked in front of his squad, looking for improvised explosive devices or other trouble.

He died while conducting combat operations, according to the Defense Department.
Nearly 1,800 mourners packed every available seat at the East Bay Fellowship on Wednesday for his funeral.

"Chachi was the name of a real-life hero," said Don Busboom in his tearful eulogy, using the nickname bestowed by Corral's older brother, when he was too young to correctly pronounce Joshua.

"By living for others, Chachi lived well, because he lived for something bigger than himself," said Busboom, a teacher at San Ramon Valley High School, where Corral graduated in 2010.

He wore his Marine uniform proudly, and he showed his faith in God with the ink under that uniform.
"He was tatted up," Busboom said.
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