[Times photo: Cherie Diez]
Lance Cpl. Antonio Sledd's mother, Norma Figueroa, left; father, Thomas Sledd, center; and twin brother, Marine Pvt. Michael Sledd, attend the fallen marine's funeral at Bay Pines National Cemetery on Tuesday.

By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 16, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- Amid a volley of rifles and the flutter of doves, friends and family said goodbye Tuesday to Antonio "Tony" Sledd, the U.S. Marine who was killed by terrorists last week on a Kuwaiti island 7,000 miles away.

The Marine Corps awarded Sledd, 20, a posthumous Purple Heart during the hourlong funeral service at Bay Pines National Cemetery. He was killed Oct. 8 in an ambush during a training exercise near Kuwait City.

"Most Americans die yearning to be half that," said Raymond Benefield, 31, who taught Sledd at Gaither High School in Tampa and said the Purple Heart brought some comfort. "He lived half the time and achieved twice as much as the average human being."

[Times photo: Cherie Diez]
Members of the Marine Corp fire a rifle volley at the end of Antonio Sledd's funeral. Sledd was killed while on exercises in Kuwait last week.

Like others who came to pay tribute to Sledd, Benefield spoke of the heroism and sacrifice of the Tampa Marine who called himself "Big T."

"Heroes don't volunteer and they're not appointed. They just step up when it's their time," Benefield said. "I think about the day it happened. I was probably in bed sleeping when he was giving his life to protect mine."

Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States, flew to Florida from Washington, D.C. to offer his condolences. He said Sledd's murder was an attack on Kuwait as much as on America.

"My being here is a manifestation of our condemnation of the act of terrorism that took Cpl. Sledd's life," he said.

Sledd was killed when two Kuwaiti gunmen opened fire on Marines engaged in urban assault training on Failaka, an island near Kuwait City. The attack wounded another Marine, Lance Cpl. George Simpson of Ohio. The gunmen then drove to a second location and attacked another group of Marines, who killed them with return fire.

[Times photo: Cherie Diez]
Joan MacPherson of Largo holds a photo of her two sons in their Marine uniforms at the funeral. MacPherson said she attended because she "just kept thinking about the mother."

Friends remembered Sledd as an incorrigible prankster, the proud owner of a purple Camaro people called "Barney" and a fiercely competitive and sometimes hot-tempered basketball player.

"He always had this warrior side," said his best friend, Patrick VanTreese, 19. On the basketball court, "He would take on anybody bigger than him. He wouldn't back down from anything. (He) kicked my butt in basketball every single day."

For Sledd, part of the allure of the Marine Corps was its reputation for ruggedness.

"Everyone said that was the hardest boot camp," VanTreese said. "He wanted to go in to see if he was tough enough to do it."

Sledd's immediate family -- his parents, Thomas Sledd and Norma Figueroa, and his twin brother, Michael -- attended the service but did not speak. Michael Sledd, also a Marine, wore his dress blues and released the first of 20 doves into the sky -- one for each year of his slain brother's life.

Norma Figueroa, who lives with her husband in Hillsborough County, has asked that her surviving son be reassigned to Tampa from his post in Japan, for the sake of his safety.

On Tuesday, Gov. Jeb Bush said officials in Washington have agreed to expedite his reassignment. Bush said he called Mrs. Figueroa on Monday after his staff contacted officials in Washington and arranged for the twin to be returned to the United States.

"I told his mother yesterday that all her son has to do is tell his commanding officer he wants to be relocated and they have agreed to expedite that," Bush said.

The governor did not attend Tuesday's service, but Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan was present. Brogan said he has a twin brother himself, and he related to Michael Sledd's pain in "a very special way."

"I don't think anybody can understand the bond that exists between twins," Brogan said. "The bond is so special."

Jeff Jurgensen, a Marine Corps spokesman, said Michael Sledd would likely be transferred to the 4th Assault Amphibious Battalion in Tampa, a Marine Reserves unit.

An estimated 200 people attended the funeral service, which included a rifle volley.

[AP photo]
Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan, left, greets dignitaries, including Kuwait's ambassador to Washington, right, at Antonio Sledd's funeral.

Gen. James L. Jones Jr., commandant of the Marine Corps and a member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, read a letter of condolence from President Bush.

Jones said that both Sledd brothers had willingly signed on to defend freedom and that in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, much work remained.

"These are difficult times for our nation, and difficult times require exceptional people to do exceptional things," Jones said. "It's never easy to say goodbye to one of our heroes."

In an interview, Jones said that his own son served in Sledd's platoon, where Sledd was well-liked. "There's no bad time to be a Marine, but there sure are some sad ones, and this is a sad one."

Also present were Reps. Michael Bilirakis , R-Tarpon Springs, and C.W. Bill Young, R-Largo.

"If you've got to die, it's the best way to die -- protecting your country," Bilirakis said.

Added Young: "I don't think right now there are words that bring solace. I would say to (the family) they gave the very best they had to their country."

-- Times staff writer Lucy Morgan and researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Christopher Goffard can be reached at 813-226-3337.

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