Long Island Marine Killed In Afghanistan Laid To Rest
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A Long Island Marine who was killed in Afghanistan has been laid to rest.
More than 1,000 mourners turned out for the funeral of 21-year-old Oceanside native Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley, Jr. on Saturday.
"'When you're a Marine and you're in Afghanistan,' he used to tell me all the time, 'it's not the same, you don't understand.' He always told me when he got back that we were all going to get together and he would explain to us what it is to be over there and why life is so precious. But they took that from me," Buckley's friend Sebastian Buttafuoco told CBS 2's Steve Langford.
The killing, and others like it, has prompted U.S. military leaders to call for drastic new action to stop deadly insider attacks where allies turn their guns on Americans.
Buckley was one of three U.S. service members killed by an Afghan police officer on Aug. 10.
Buckley's father Greg Sr. has said his son's death showed him it is time for all U.S. troops to come home from Afghanistan.
"Today's not the day to get into the politics of it. To me, what we can all agree on today is that we have to find better ways to protect our troops and that was a real failing here," Rep. Peter King (R-NY) told Langford at the funeral.
Buckley eulogized his son Saturday and nearly collapsed leaving the church.
His funeral was held at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre. Burial followed at Long Island National Cemetery in Pinelawn.
