BY PARADISE AFSHAR AND STEPHANIE GENUARDI
About 150 family members and friends and a 50-biker honor guard paid their final respects Saturday to a U.S. Marine from Pembroke Pines who was killed this month in Afghanistan.
Lance Cpl. Patrick Xavier Jr., 24, died May 18 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Saturday, a color guard escorted the Marine's casket to the funeral at St. David's Catholic Church, 3900 South University Dr. in Davie, where Xavier was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart. His father and fiancée spoke about his devotion to service and his willingness to sacrifice.
From there, a 50-motorcycle motorcade of self-styled ``Patriot Guards'' escorted his remains to a burial with full military honors at the South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth.
As the motorcade left the church, Broward County residents stood by the roadside paying their respects. One man held an American flag.
Xavier was one of two Florida casualties this month in the war on terror. The Defense Department announced earlier in the week that Lance Cpl. Philip P. Clark, 19, of Gainesville, died the same day, May 18, while supporting combat operations in the same province.
He, too, was part of the II Marine Expeditionary Force's 2nd Marine Division but with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment.
