By Mark Berman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 28, 2008

Nearly nine months to the day after Ciara Durkin's mysterious death left her family filled with sadness and uncertainty, more than 70 mourners gathered at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday to say goodbye.

Durkin, 30, of Quincy, Mass., died Sept. 28 at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, the Defense Department reported. An Army investigation ruled her death a suicide from a gunshot to the head. Durkin was a corporal in the Army National Guard.

"No matter how bad her day was going, when she was with you, her silliness, her hearty, infectious laughter was an effort to make you happy," Durkin's brother Pierce said in a eulogy at her funeral Mass in October.

"She was selfless to a fault. It was a fault, because often, in order to make you happy, she forgot about herself in the process. . . . Our happiness made her happy."

Yesterday, mourners followed the small wooden box containing the remains of the soldier nicknamed "Ciara Weera Brat" to her grave site in Section 60. Durkin was the 488th military person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan to be buried at Arlington.

Durkin, the eighth of nine children, was born in Ireland and moved to the United States at 14, according to a memorial Web site operated by her family. She worked as an information technology specialist at a community health center in Boston before entering the Army National Guard in October 2005. She deployed to Afghanistan in November 2006.

Shortly after Durkin's death, her sister Fiona Canavan raised the possibility that Durkin, a lesbian, might have been targeted because of her sexual orientation. Durkin also was concerned about events in Afghanistan, her sister said.

"She did say to us that she had concerns about things she was seeing when she was over there," Canavan told WGBH-TV of Boston in October. "She told us if anything happened to her that we were to investigate it."

The military investigation into her death took seven months and was completed in April, Army Criminal Investigations Command spokesman Chris Grey said. He said agents "conducted a thorough and detailed investigation," taking into account questions and concerns raised by the family.

"Our conclusion was based on all available evidence, to include witness statements, evidence at the scene, phone records, psychological review and also the finding of suicide by the armed forces medical examiner," he said.

This week, the Durkin family posted a statement on the Web site commenting on the Army's report.

"The Durkin family has received the Army's final report into Ciara's death with their conclusion that she took her own life. We are very upset and saddened by their conclusion," the statement reads. "We have borne an extraordinary amount of pain over the past nine months, compounded by a protracted and at times ambiguous investigation. We now need time and privacy to grieve, and let our Ciara finally rest in peace."

Durkin was assigned to the 726th Finance Battalion, Massachusetts Army National Guard based in West Newton. She received several honors, including the Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

"Corporal Durkin is sadly missed, but we will never forget the sacrifices she made for her country," Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Sellars of the Massachusetts Army National Guard said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers remain with the Durkin family."

Durkin returned home for the last time for two weeks' leave in early September The day she died, she had called her brother Pierce to leave him a voice mail for his birthday.

"I thought it was cute at the time," Pierce Durkin told CBS News in October. "Now it's priceless."