Mark J. Downer

A LIFE REMEMBERED

We speak the name.

Army Spc. Mark J. Downer died Aug. 5 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with a rocket-propelled grenade. &lsquoHe always did what was best for others&rsquo The Associated Press WARNER ROBINS, Ga. &mdash Mourners packed a church here Aug. 13 as a 23-year-old soldier killed in Afghanistan was mourned and remembered by family and friends in his hometown. More than 200 people attended the funeral service for Army Spc. Mark J. Downer, a combat medic who died Aug. 5 in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Kandahar province. &ldquoHe always did what was best for others,&rdquo Downer&rsquos aunt, Sandra Downer, said during the service. &ldquoThe profession he chose &mdash to be a medic &mdash was a dangerous one, and he&rsquos a very intelligent young man, so he knew the danger that would befall him, but he did it anyway. He strived to do his best.&rdquo Downer joined the Army in 2009, according to the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph. He was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y. People lined the streets a day before the funeral as police escorted the hearse carrying Downer&rsquos casket after it arrived in Warner Robins. During the funeral, the soldier&rsquos father, Garfield Downer, was presented with two medals &mdash the Purple Heart and Bronze Star &mdash awarded to his fallen son. Family and friends remembered Downer as quiet. He graduated in 2005 from Northside High School, where he played football and ran track. A former classmate, Courtney Chaplin, described Downer as funny, loving and selfless.