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Michael J. McMullen, 25, who in civilian life was a firefighter and paramedic with the Salisbury Fire Department, died Tuesday, January 10, 2006, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, said Major Charles Kohler, a National Guard spokesman.
McMullen was a Maryland National Guard sergeant from the Eastern Shore. He was fatally injured from wounds he received Christmas Eve 2005 when a roadside bomb went off in Iraq, becoming the first Maryland guardsman killed in combat since World War II. Officials said Sergeant McMullen was one of three members of the Baltimore-based 243rd Engineer Company who were gravely wounded by roadside bombs December 24, 2005.
He was wounded in Ramadi when an explosive device went off as he tended to a fellow soldier who had been wounded minutes earlier in another explosion. "This is the first combat fatality for the Maryland Guard since World War II," Major Kohler said. Thirty-four Marylanders have died in military service since the Iraq war began. Among them are three other members of the 243rd who were killed in a convoy accident.
Salisbury firefighters were told of their colleague's death when they were called to the department's downtown headquarters the following day.
"Here was a man who was using his training as a paramedic and gave his life trying to rescue another soldier," retired Deputy Chief Timothy C. Keenan said. "It's exactly what you'd expect from Mike. Everybody knew he was a solid guy, someone you could count on."
Sergeant McMullen, a native of Pennsylvania whose family moved to the Eastern Shore when he was a child, grew up south of Salisbury in the town of Princess Anne. He graduated from Washington High School there in 1999. "He loved to cook but turned down a scholarship to culinary school in New Jersey in favor of a career as a firefighter," said Stephen E. Dickerson, a spokesman for the Salisbury department.
As a teenager, Sergeant McMullen was a volunteer firefighter in Princess Anne before being hired at the 170-person Salisbury department in 2003. His training as a paramedic, a diver and a hazardous materials specialist prepared him for a slot with the department's special operations team, officials said.
Retired Chief David B. See recalled a "gung ho" firefighter who was well-liked throughout the department. "In my mind he is a hero. He was serving his country in the military, but he was really a firefighter at heart. We have all lost a great friend."
Firefighters were torn between laughing and crying as Chief See told of an early meeting with Sergeant McMullen when he was a brash newcomer who pointed out that the chief's mustache was longer than the department's grooming rules allowed.
"Some of the guys thought he was nuts, talking to the chief like that. But what could I say -- he was right," Chief See said. "I always called him 'mustache' from then on."
McMullen is survived by his parents, David and Robin McMullen, as well as his sister Jeanette and brother Brian. All are of Salisbury, fire officials said.
Sgt. McMullen was buried at Arlington National Cemetary on January 20, 2006 with full military and firefighter's honors. U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest and Salisbury Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman were among those who attended the service, which drew firefighters from around the region. The funeral procession -- half a dozen fire engines, police and rescue vehicles and hundreds of friends and supporters in vans and chartered buses -- left Salisbury at 9 a.m., reaching Arlington a little before 1 p.m.
A long line of fire trucks crowded the narrow roads of Arlington National Cemetery on Friday as hundreds of firefighters, soldiers, neighbors and friends gathered to say farewell to Michael J. McMullen. In Washington, the mourners paused at RFK Stadium to transfer McMullen's coffin from his old fire engine to a hearse, in keeping with Arlington's strict protocol.
As the mournful strains of "Taps" drifted over the rows of marble headstones on the unseasonably warm January day, a Marine honor guard fired a seven-gun salute.
It was a hero's funeral for Maryland National Guard Sergeant McMullen, who died of wounds he suffered while rescuing fellow guardsman Sgt. Randal Divel, of Middletown, Maryland.
Maj. Gen. Bruce Tuxill, adjutant general of the Maryland National Guard, presented military awards to his mother, Robin, and said they stood for McMullen's willingness to "put himself in harm's way to save the life of a comrade."
The Army has awarded a Silver Star posthumously to McMullen, and promoted him posthumously to Staff Sergeant. McMullen also received the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.
McMullen was a Maryland National Guard sergeant from the Eastern Shore. He was fatally injured from wounds he received Christmas Eve 2005 when a roadside bomb went off in Iraq, becoming the first Maryland guardsman killed in combat since World War II. Officials said Sergeant McMullen was one of three members of the Baltimore-based 243rd Engineer Company who were gravely wounded by roadside bombs December 24, 2005.
He was wounded in Ramadi when an explosive device went off as he tended to a fellow soldier who had been wounded minutes earlier in another explosion. "This is the first combat fatality for the Maryland Guard since World War II," Major Kohler said. Thirty-four Marylanders have died in military service since the Iraq war began. Among them are three other members of the 243rd who were killed in a convoy accident.
Salisbury firefighters were told of their colleague's death when they were called to the department's downtown headquarters the following day.
"Here was a man who was using his training as a paramedic and gave his life trying to rescue another soldier," retired Deputy Chief Timothy C. Keenan said. "It's exactly what you'd expect from Mike. Everybody knew he was a solid guy, someone you could count on."
Sergeant McMullen, a native of Pennsylvania whose family moved to the Eastern Shore when he was a child, grew up south of Salisbury in the town of Princess Anne. He graduated from Washington High School there in 1999. "He loved to cook but turned down a scholarship to culinary school in New Jersey in favor of a career as a firefighter," said Stephen E. Dickerson, a spokesman for the Salisbury department.
As a teenager, Sergeant McMullen was a volunteer firefighter in Princess Anne before being hired at the 170-person Salisbury department in 2003. His training as a paramedic, a diver and a hazardous materials specialist prepared him for a slot with the department's special operations team, officials said.
Retired Chief David B. See recalled a "gung ho" firefighter who was well-liked throughout the department. "In my mind he is a hero. He was serving his country in the military, but he was really a firefighter at heart. We have all lost a great friend."
Firefighters were torn between laughing and crying as Chief See told of an early meeting with Sergeant McMullen when he was a brash newcomer who pointed out that the chief's mustache was longer than the department's grooming rules allowed.
"Some of the guys thought he was nuts, talking to the chief like that. But what could I say -- he was right," Chief See said. "I always called him 'mustache' from then on."
McMullen is survived by his parents, David and Robin McMullen, as well as his sister Jeanette and brother Brian. All are of Salisbury, fire officials said.
Sgt. McMullen was buried at Arlington National Cemetary on January 20, 2006 with full military and firefighter's honors. U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest and Salisbury Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman were among those who attended the service, which drew firefighters from around the region. The funeral procession -- half a dozen fire engines, police and rescue vehicles and hundreds of friends and supporters in vans and chartered buses -- left Salisbury at 9 a.m., reaching Arlington a little before 1 p.m.
A long line of fire trucks crowded the narrow roads of Arlington National Cemetery on Friday as hundreds of firefighters, soldiers, neighbors and friends gathered to say farewell to Michael J. McMullen. In Washington, the mourners paused at RFK Stadium to transfer McMullen's coffin from his old fire engine to a hearse, in keeping with Arlington's strict protocol.
As the mournful strains of "Taps" drifted over the rows of marble headstones on the unseasonably warm January day, a Marine honor guard fired a seven-gun salute.
It was a hero's funeral for Maryland National Guard Sergeant McMullen, who died of wounds he suffered while rescuing fellow guardsman Sgt. Randal Divel, of Middletown, Maryland.
Maj. Gen. Bruce Tuxill, adjutant general of the Maryland National Guard, presented military awards to his mother, Robin, and said they stood for McMullen's willingness to "put himself in harm's way to save the life of a comrade."
The Army has awarded a Silver Star posthumously to McMullen, and promoted him posthumously to Staff Sergeant. McMullen also received the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.
