RAF LAKENHEATH, England — Airmen from throughout the Lakenheath community turned out Thursday to say goodbye to 1st Lt. John Biram, who was killed last Saturday in a car accident in Newmarket.
Biram, 26, with the 48th Munitions Squadron, was killed when his car collided with a 50-ton semi-truck on Barbara Stradbroke Avenue, said Anne-Marie Breach, a spokeswoman for the Suffolk Constabulary.
Police were called about 2 a.m., and Biram was pronounced dead at the scene, she said.
“Death has once again invaded our ranks,” Chaplain (Maj.) Calvin Dixon told those in attendance Thursday at the RAF Lakenheath Chapel. “It is out of love that we have gathered here today.”
Throughout a career that spanned from Asia to Italy and finally to Lakenheath, Biram demonstrated limitless potential backed up by top performance, said Lt. Col. Jack Mateer, the squadron’s commander.
Gathering to mourn Biram will help share the load of grief, he said.
“My faith demands that I believe the first lieutenant is seeing this,” Mateer said.
While death is a grievous certainty for those left behind, it is important to focus on the fullness of Biram’s time on Earth, said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Walter Cochran.
“Some lives are fulfilled in much shorter time than others,” he said. “Man seems to place more importance on length of days than God.”
Biram was born and raised in Auburn, Mass., and attended Air Force Officer Training School in 2003 after graduating from Worcester State College in 2001.
He served at Camp Darby, Italy, and Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, before arriving at Lakenheath in July.
Biram is survived by his mother, Maureen; his stepfather, Frank; two sisters; and a brother, all of Auburn.
“Death is certain,” Cochran said at the ceremony. “The fields that are green will turn brown with winter.”
An investigation into the collision is ongoing, Breach said, and no other information was available this week. Witnesses to the collision are asked to contact police at 01473-613500.
