Full honors for Fil-Am heroine

SIQUIJOR, Philippines  - Sergeant Zainah "Kaye" Creamer, a 28-year-old Filipino-American soldier who died in Afghanistan, was laid to rest yesterday at her hometown of Maria in Siquijor province, with full US military honors in a funeral attended by US Embassy officials.

A 21-gun salute was executed by US Honor Guards to honor the bravery and heroism of Creamer, who was part of the members of the 212th Military Police Detachment deployed to Afghanistan.

Major Gen. John Macdonald, deputy commander of the 8th US Army, conferred on her the Purple Heart, NATO medal and the Bronze Star Medal.

Besides Macdonald, US Embassy-Manila Chargé d'Affaires Leslie Bassett arrived in Siquijor to also honor Creamer. Bassett told The FREEMAN that Creamer will always be remembered as a hero of the USA and the Philippines.

Creamer died in a bomb explosion in Afganistan while she was clearing a building before an airstrike. She was with his K-9 bomb-sniffing dog, named Jofa, who however survived from the blast. 

The casket bearing Creamer's body was brought out her house at 11 a.m.. Honor guards, together with Macdonald, Bassett and Zainah's relatives join the funeral-procession to the town's Catholic church for the funeral Mass and eulogy.

Creamer was then interred at the municipal cemetery where the two US flags were given to her mother Carlyn Brown and another to her aunt Lutchie Catleman.

Creamer was the 3rd female Filipino-American soldier, and the 15th Fil-Am soldier who died in the US wars against Iraq and later in Afganistan. She was the 10th among them who was buried in the Philippines. (FREEMAN)