Soldier Laid to Rest Saturday
By: Cierra Putman
Updated: August 4, 2012
Hundreds turned out to say their final goodbyes to a local soldier killed in the War on Terror. Family and friends paid tribute to Specialist Theodore Glende.
The 23-year-old was promoted posthumously from private first class to specialist, He was killed in Afghanistan last week.
Family and friends spoke of the love of his life, his wife Alexandra who he just married a few months ago, but also his love for country.
That love of country is why he enlisted as an Army paratrooper. Family and friends say he died protecting his comrades in the 173rd Airborne Brigade when they came under fire last Friday.
"No matter how busy we are, the Army is always a family," Brigadier General Ted Martin, Personal Rep Secretary of the Army said. "When we lose one of our own it is the Army's policy that we will gather around the family. That we will remember the soldier we will take care of the family. That we will see that the soldier, in this case, Specialist Theodore M. Glende of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, is laid to rest with honor and dignity.:
Saturday's service was filled with tears and happy memories of a young man described as a loving husband, son and brother in arms.
About 200 people filed into the Interfaith Chapel on the U of R campus Saturday afternoon.
On campus, the flags flew at half mast in Glende's honor. Watching over his family, as his body was brought to the chapel for a final goodbye.
The 23-year-old was a graduate of McQuaid Jesuit High School and Niagara University.
A private burial followed the funeral.
