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Fallen Sailor Receives Purple Heart From US Navy

MIDLAND (AP) - Several hundred people attended a funeral service Friday in Midland for a Michigan sailor killed in Afghanistan.

High ranking senior petty officers from the U.S. Navy posthumously awarded Aaron Ullom the Purple Heart, according to Booth Newspapers. Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Snyder ordered flags lowered in honor of the 20-year-old fallen sailor.

Ullom, from Midland, died July 12 while on foot patrol in Helmand province. He was shot while tending to a wounded Marine.

He served as a medic for the Navy and was part of a unit from Camp Lejeune, N.C. He deployed to Afghanistan in February for his first tour of duty.

His family said he was killed while on a training mission with Afghan troops. The group came under fire from insurgents.

"His character displayed the type of person he was," said Michael Benner, 20, a former classmate. "He was the type of person that would do anything for anyone."

Ullom was a 2009 graduate of Midland High School.

The crowd lined the funeral route Friday between Midland Evangelical Free Church to the Midland City Cemetery.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.

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