Obituaries
PHOTOS: Laurel Marine Laid To Rest
Burial services for Lance Cpl. Eugene Mills held at Arlington National Cemetery.
This story was updated at 9:00 p.m. July 12
Burial services were held Wednesday for a Laurel marine who died last month in Afghanistan.
Lance Cpl. Eugene Mills III was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery early Wednesday morning. Mills, 21, was . Mills was leading an infantry team on a patrol in the country’s Sangin Valley province when they became engaged in a firefight, according to a military report. Mills was fatally shot in the upper chest, the report said.
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Mills was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
During the service, friends of Mills said they knew him as a kind and caring person who followed his dreams.
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“He was a very polite and wonderful young man,” said Liz Rice, who babysit Mills as a child. “Every time he returned back from his military duties, he would come by to see me. He was apart of my life. I watched him grow into a wonderful young man, the marines brought out the best in him.”
Mills lived in West Laurel and attended Laurel High School as a teen. Laurel Police Chief Richard McLaughlin worked with Mills' father, who formally served in the department.
"It's very disturbing," said McLaughlin, who delivered the news of Mills' death to his family. "He died doing what he wanted to do and what he was meant to do."
