By Demorris A. Lee, Times Staff Writer
Friday, August 27, 2010
Family and fellow Marines honor Lance Cpl. Nathaniel J.A. Schultz after the fallen soldier arrived at MacDill Air Force Base Friday morning. Schultz was killed last weekend during combat operations in the Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
TAMPA — A small crowd was already gathering early Friday, waving flags along Bayshore Boulevard to honor a fallen soldier.
The body of Marine Lance Cpl. Nathaniel J.A. Schultz, who was killed in Afghanistan, arrived at MacDill Air Force Base at 9:30 a.m. and will be escorted to a Riverview funeral home.
Schultz, 19, was killed Saturday. He was from Safety Harbor and had graduated from Countryside High School in Clearwater in 2009. He also attended the Florida Sheriff's Youth Ranch in Safety Harbor as a teenager.
After the body of Schultz landed at MacDill, the family gathered around the casket. The hearse left the base shortly before 10 a.m.
At the corner of Rome Avenue and Bayshore, 18-year-old Shawn Booker of Safety Harbor came to remember his friend, whom he met at the youth ranch. He last saw Schultz at Countryside Mall, he said, and Schultz talked about how he loved being a marine and even tried to convince Booker to join.
""In a million years, I would have never thought I would be standing out here waiting for his body to come by," Booker said.
Around 10:20 a.m., the hearse rolled by slowly, headed for downtown Tampa and State Road 60.
The body will be taken to the Serenity Meadows memorial park, funeral home and crematory at 6919 Providence Road in Riverview.
The route of the honor escort will be:
From MacDill Air Force Base, north on Bayshore Boulevard, east on Platt Street, north on Florida Avenue, east on Jackson Street, north on Jefferson Street, east on Twiggs Street to Channelside Drive, east on State Road 60, south on Kings Avenue, west on Lumsden Road, then south on Providence Road to Serenity Meadows.
A viewing will be held at Serenity Meadows from 5 to 9 p.m. today.
A funeral will be held 11 a.m. Saturday at Bell Shoals Baptist Church, 2102 Bell Shoals Road in Brandon. A second viewing will be held an hour before the funeral.
After the funeral, Schultz will be taken to Sarasota National Cemetery, where he will be buried with honors.
Donations may be made in Schultz's honor to the Florida Sheriff's Youth Ranch Inc., P.O. Box 2000, Boys Ranch, FL 32604.