
KENBRIDGE, Va. — When the Rev. Curtis Bagley Jr. baptized James Lambert II 11 years ago in a white clapboard church in this rural town, he never fathomed he would bury him at age 22.
Calling Lambert’s death in Iraq a comma, not a period, in the soldier’s life, Bagley pleaded with family and friends Aug. 8 to put their faith in God and remember that death is part of life.
“He has answered the call we all must answer,” Bagley told mourners attending Lambert’s funeral at New Grove Baptist Church. “Some will answer on the battleground, some will answer in hospitals, some will answer on the highways, but we all must answer.”
Lambert, a native of...