By Howard Packowitz

TREMONT – The Village of Tremont, in Tazewell County, said farewell this weekend to Cpl. Daniel Baker, the U.S. Marine missing and declared dead after a crash between two military planes earlier this month over the Sea of Japan.

Baker, 21 and a 2015 Tremont High School graduate, was remembered at a memorial service as a man of few words, but also for his intelligence, his work ethic, love of family, the U.S. Marines, and the Lord.

Baker’s youth pastor at Northfield Christian Fellowship, Doug Rumbold, said no one wanted to be at the church for such a sad event.

“We don’t come here because we want to. We come here because we want to sweeten our grief with the promise and the hope of eternal life,” said Rumbold.

A tearful pastor Don Stuber said people who knew Baker were not surprised when he enlisted.

“Daniel had found his path. He loved being a Marine. He loved training and serving with his buddies. He loved flying around the Pacific in a C-130,” said Stuber.

“This young Marine loved his country. He loved his fellow man. He loved his family, and he loved his Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”

Retired Navy flyer Micah Manningham, a pastor who officiated at the service, said the Marines excel at molding boys into men, but he said Baker had already become a man when he enlisted.

“As ‘corporal’, he was an outstanding marine. As ‘Baker,’ he was a dear friend, and as ‘Daniel,’ he was a beloved son, brother, grandson, nephew, and cousin,” said Manningham.

Baker’s commanding officer said the crash that killed Baker and five others in the aerial refueling mishap will always haunt him.

He called Baker a “shooting star” who had the highest potential.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]