A Montrose Marine killed while serving his country in Iraq was laid to rest Friday in Denver with a full military funeral.

Lance Corporal Chad Maynard was 19 when his life was cut short last week while on a mission for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Relatives and friends were joined by fellow soldiers and former classmates in paying their final respects.

The Montrose teenager was killed in Iraq barely a year after he graduated from high school. The 19 year old Maynard died June 15th when the Humvee he was driving on combat patrol struck a homemade bomb.

Maynard was a 2004 graduate of Montrose High School, and had deployed to Iraq just four months ago. The school's ROTC program chief says Maynard had always wanted to be a marine, just like his father, Gene, and his brother, Jacob. Jacob Maynard accompanied his brother's body back to Colorado.

About 300 people turned out Monday for a memorial service in Montrose.

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