The Associated Press

LEBANON JUNCTION, Ky. - Emotions were raw Sunday as Army Spc. James E. Powell was laid to rest on a bleak autumn day in his wife's hometown.

Ruby Powell was doubled over, her hands cupped over her face, throughout much of the burial ceremony in Lebanon Junction City Cemetery, which borders the house where she grew up.

Fellow soldiers said James Powell had volunteered for a combat mission even though he was due for home leave within days. The 26-year-old Columbus, Ohio, native was killed Oct. 12 near Beiji when his Bradley armored vehicle set off a land mine.

Following private funeral services, soldiers from nearby Fort Knox carried a flag-draped coffin into the cemetery as a lone bagpiper played "Amazing Grace."

Maj. Gen. Michael Rochelle, the head of the Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, awarded Powell a Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Combat Infantry Badge, saying, Powell "paid the ultimate sacrifice in the effort to liberate Iraq."

A seven-soldier honor guard saluted Powell by firing shots into the air.

Powell was a member of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, based in Fort Hood, Texas. The unit is part of the 4th Infantry Division, which controls a large swath of northern Iraq and is based in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown.

Powell is survived by his 23-year-old wife and 2-year-old daughter, Lauren Mkinsey.