Visalia Times
David Castellon
August 9, 2014
Pictured- Spiritual leaders Mike Sisco, center, Keith Turner, left, and Joey Garfield, not pictured, representing the Tachi, Mono and Tule River tribes, respectively, sing traditional ceremonial songs and blessings for Army Pfc. Keith M. Williams during the funeral Saturday at El Diamante High School.
Family, friends and hundreds of people from the community gather Saturday at El Diamante High School as Army Pfc. Keith M. Williams of Visalia is celebrated with a Native American ceremony and military honors by the California State Honor Guard. Pfc. Williams, 19, of Visalia, CA, died July 24 in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, CO. Pfc. Williams was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Pfc. Williams is a graduate of El Diamante.(Photo: Steve R. Fujimoto, Steve R. Fujimoto)
In a pair of ceremonies honoring both his Christian faith and his Native-American heritage, a Visalia soldier killed in Afghanistan was honored Saturday.
About 1,100 people nearly filled to capacity the Visalia First Assembly of God Church, where Pfc. Keith M. Williams was baptized as a child and the first of his funeral services were held.
Most in attendance likely didn't know the 19-year-old killed July 24 when an improvised explosive device hit the vehicle he was in that was leading a convoy in Mirugol Kalay, in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province.
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