Photo Galleries

Alex Funcheon home on leave in September of 2006.

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Army Pvt. Brian Botello, the driver of Alex Funcheon’s Humvee, in Narhwan, Iraq, where the 1st Platoon found a Shia militia weapons cache in December 2006.

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/ Arron Patton

Alex Funcheon pretends to be a smashed bug, pressing his nose and lips into the ballistic glass of the Humvee’s gun turret. In Iraq, Alex was a good soldier, respected and well-liked by his Army buddies.

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Alex Funcheon poses with his new Playboy logo cap, which was bought in the Green Zone in Baghdad during a VIP escort mission in February 2007.

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Jon Bland

Lt. Jon Bland holds a handful of the copper slugs that tore through the cargo compartment of a 1st Platoon truck in September 2007. These copper slugs are similar to those that hit Alex Funcheon’s Humvee, killing him and two others in April 2007.

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/ Jon Bland

Alex Funcheon pulls guard duty in the tower of an Iraqi police station in east Baghdad in January 2007. Alex’s tour of duty in Iraq began in October 2006 as a member of the 1st Platoon in the 61st Cavalry Regiment.

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/ Courtesy of Arron Patton

The Funcheon family from left: Gloria, Bob, Karen and Alex together in September of 2006 before deploying to Iraq.

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Army soldiers carry the casket of Sgt. Alexander Funcheon to a hearse in May 2007.

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Jaime Oppenheimer/The Wichita Eagle

More than 300 members of the Patriot Guard attended Sgt. Alexander Funcheon's funeral at Central Christian Church in May 2007.

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Jaime Oppenheimer/The Wichita Eagle

A bagpipe player salutes the casket of Sgt. Alexander Funcheon in May 2007. The 21-year-old Bel Aire native was killed in Iraq. His funeral service was held at Central Christian Church.

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Jaime Oppenheimer/The Wichita Eagle

Two photographs stand on a bookcase near the Funcheons' kitchen table: Alex in fourth grade, Gloria in first grade, their hair cut exactly the same — bangs in front. Gloria had told the barber to cut her hair like his.

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/ Courtesy photo

Alex and Gloria have their picture taken together when Alex is home on leave one last time in September 2006, shortly before deploying to Iraq.

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/ Courtesy photo