Marine's death touches community

Special to the Inter Lake

TROY - Memorial services for Marine Cpl. Raleigh Smith, who was killed in action in Iraq, will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Troy High School gym.

Troy schools will be dismissed at 2:05 p.m. to allow students to attend the services.

Burial with military honors will follow at Milnor Lake Cemetery.

Smith was killed Dec. 23 along with two other Marines during a clash between U.S. forces and Iraqi insurgents in the embattled city of Fallujah.

Smith was a 2002 graduate of Troy High School.

He joined the Marines with his high school buddy, Jake Boswell. High school guidance counselor Kelly Palmer called Smith's friendship with Boswell "an inspirational thing."

"As a fun-loving, all-American kid, he was an example for all of us," Palmer said.

Smith followed in the footsteps of his older brother Ramsey who had joined the Marines the previous year.

"I knew both of them when they were kids," Troy Mayor John Brown said. "Most everyone did, so it's pretty tough for this community."

Ramsey Smith had already served a tour of duty in Iraq and was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina when his brother was killed, Palmer said. He will return to Troy for the funeral, but Boswell was unable to obtain leave from Iraq to attend.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer plans to attend Tuesday's services.