PFC John Phillip Dion was laid to rest at the Shattuck Cemetery on Sunday.
Dion, a 2009 graduate of Shattuck High School, was killed in Ashoque, Afghanistan, on Jan. 3.
Dion and 3 other soldiers were killed when insurgents ambushed the unit with improvised explosive devices and small arms fire. Twelve others were injured.
He had been assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson Colorado.
His unit was deployed to Afghanistan in November 2009.
More than one hundred members of the community turned out to pay tribute to Dion on Sunday. To view a video tribute to John Dion please click here now.
John Dion was a member of the 2008 and 2009 unbeaten Shattuck Indian State Championship football team. He also played centerfield for three years with the baseball team and was team captain his senior year.
He is survived by his fiance, Adi Vielma; his parents, Mark and Patricia Elsner of Reynolds, Georgia; two sisters, Kelsey Dion of Reynolds, Georgia and Jackie Boals, Cedar Grove, Tennessee; two brothers, Justin Werve of Shattuck, and Mark Elsner of Paris, Tennessee, as well as his grandmothers, Carol Willoughby of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Jane Elsner of Reynolds, Georgia.
To view a video tribute to John Dion please click here now.
