Pelosi, others remember Murtha at Pa. funeral as advocate for members of military

Pelosi: Pa. Rep. Murtha was friend to military

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is remembering U.S. Rep. John Murtha at his Pennsylvania funeral as a friend to men and women in the military.

Pelosi spoke at Tuesday’s service and says Murtha’s vocal opposition to the Iraq War in 2005 taught people “to make a difference between the war and the warrior.” Murtha died Feb. 8 at age 77 after complications from gallbladder surgery.

U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway says he will remember Murtha as a fellow marine, patriot and a great American.

A large congressional delegation attended the funeral, as did former President Bill Clinton.

Murtha was the head of the powerful House appropriations defense subcommittee. In 1974, he became the first Vietnam veteran elected to Congress.