BEDFORD -- U.S. Marine officer Joshua Booth never lived in Bedford, but residents of the city embraced him as a native son Thursday.

More than 250 people stood sentinel, lined up side by side, from Bedford Baptist Church to Longwood Cemetery, the final resting spot for the 23-year-old father, killed Oct. 17 by a sniper's bullet in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

Some of the sidewalk mourners placed their hands over their hearts. Others held an American flag.

More than one person cried as the widow's car passed.

Erica Rust Booth wore sunglasses to hide swollen eyes Thursday. The 21-year-old grieved not only for a husband, but for her 14-month-old daughter, Grace, and her unborn son, Tristan Joshua, due the first week in January, who will grow up without their father.

Booth had been in Iraq a little more than a month. John Booth, Joshua's dad, said Joshua's commanding officers told him that Joshua gathered more intelligence in his brief stay than an earlier platoon had gathered in six months.

John Booth last visited his son in August in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, where Joshua and his family lived as he served with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division. There, the pair had the difficult conversation about what to do if he were killed in duty.

Joshua Booth told his father that he wanted spaces in Arlington National Cemetery to be saved for the men in his platoon. "I've got a good place to be in Bedford, Virginia," he told his dad.

"How many people had a ticket to Arlington and didn't get it punched?" John Booth asked.

Joshua Booth was born in Virginia Beach but moved to Massachusetts as a child. Relatives had held onto an ancestral home on Baltimore Avenue in Bedford. The Booth clan gathered there on holidays.

"He felt a connection to all those folks," John Booth said.

When Joshua and his family migrated south for holidays they visited Smith Mountain Lake and the Peaks of Otter. They played Booth Ball, the family's name for touch football, in the back yard.

The pair were visiting the National D-Day Memorial in March 2001 when Joshua told his dad he wanted to be a Marine.

"I'm not just going to be a Marine," he said. "I'm going to be a Marine tested under fire."

John Booth, who had served in the Air Force, told his son to follow his footsteps. "The accommodations are better," he said.

Joshua didn't care. He wanted to be a Marine because Marines go in first.

Joshua was a sophomore at the Citadel when he met Erica, who had come to visit the school as a prospective student. After they began dating, she chose Charleston Southern University because Citadel cadets aren't allowed to date each other.

"I could tell that I loved him right away," Erica said.

They married the day after he graduated from the Citadel.

In Hawaii, the pair lay in the hammock together every night after putting their daughter to bed.

When Joshua left for Iraq, Grace said "Da-da" hopefully every time someone came to the door.

Erica Booth got her last e-mail from her husband the day before he died. He told her he missed her and that he couldn't wait to come home to see his family.

At Thursday's service, Joshua's 11-year-old nephew, Nicholas DeVera, paid tribute to his uncle by telling a story about how he'd tied a knife to a stick to kill a water moccasin.

"I had more fun with Uncle Josh than anyone in this whole room," he said.

Joshua's sister Melissa DeVera cried as she told the audience about how her brother recently taught her how to kick a football. "I knew him as my goofy little brother," she said.

She promised to tell his children, though, that their daddy was a hero.

John Booth told the other mourners about talking with his son about World War II that day at the D-Day Memorial. It's the nation's top leaders who decide soldiers' fates on the battlefield, he said, pointing to how British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt united nations.

"Josh," he told his son, "for your mother's sake and your wife and children, I pray your troop will be led by a statesman."

Students from Bedford Middle School were among the mourners lining the road.

"This was an opportunity for students to see a young person who gave his life for his country," said Principal Rhetta Watkins. "It certainly illustrates the things we're trying to teach in school such as honor, respect and courage. Certainly Lt. Booth exemplified those things."

Claytor and Angelica Willoughby also came out on Thursday.

Claytor, who is in the Navy, returned from Iraq in March. He expects he'll go back for another tour.

As the hearse passed, Angelica couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to be in Erica's shoes.

"I understand the possibilities. I know why he's doing it," she said. "A lot of guys say, 'I'd do anything for my wife and kids.' "

By going to Iraq, Angelica said, her husband proves his love for his family and for his country.

Joshua Booth went to Iraq as a second lieutenant. He was promoted to first lieutenant Wednesday.