Vigil held for Marine killed in Afghanistan

Hundreds of Byron residents turned out Sunday evening for a candlelight vigil to honor a 19-year-old Marine killed in Afghanistan.

Lance Cpl. Alec E. Catherwood, a 2009 Byron High School graduate, was killed by small-arms fire Oct. 14 while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Helmand Province, according to a news release from the U.S. Marine Corps 1st Division.

This was his first combat deployment.

“I don’t think there’s words that can say what a sacrifice it is,” said Jerry Oleson, an officer in the Byron Police Department and a retired U.S. Marine at the vigil. “Alec was someone that was totally different – he could bring a smile to anyone’s face no matter what was going on.”

Catherwood, the son of Kirk and Gretchen Catherwood, Byron, was a rifleman with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Camp Pendleton, Calif. He enlisted with the Marines after graduating from Byron High School last year. He and his fiance Hailey Patrick, Davis Junction, were planning to be married next July. A Byron school official also remembered Catherwood for his smile.

“He always had a smile on his face,” said Doug Stansford, assistant principal at Byron High School on Tuesday. “He was just a great kid.”

Stansford also had Catherwood as a student in biology class. “He was a fun-loving, very respectful young man,” he said. Stansford said Catherwood came back to the high school to see teachers and administrators before he left for military service. Funeral services were pending late Tuesday afternoon. Farrell-Holland-Gale Funeral Home, Byron, is assisting the family with the arrangements.

Sam Smith contributed to this story.