The family, friends and comrades in arms of 21-year-old Army Sgt. Ronald A. Kubik gathered with hundreds from the community at large in St. Benedict Church, Holmdel, May 2 to celebrate the life of the young soldier slain in battle last month in eastern Afghanistan.

Outside the church, the fallen soldier, mortally wounded April 23, was accorded a hero’s welcome as members of the Holmdel police, State Police, Green Berets, Patriot Guard motorcycle riders from American Legion Post 348 and soldiers of the 75th Ranger Regiment he served with such pride and distinction, joined with scores of people, including many who held small flags.

In keeping with time honored military tradition, a lone piper saluted the arrival of Kubik’s coffin with the mournful Scottish strains of “Sleep, Dearie, Sleep.”

Inside, it was standing room only as the walls were lined with people of all ages who had come to pay him honor.

During the Mass of Christian Burial, they listened intently as Father Daniel F. Swift, pastor of St. Benedict Parish, described the life Kubik had chosen, a “life that involved sacrifice,” a life where “quality would be measured by things like duty, honor, courage, commitment and above all, service to others. That’s what the military does.”

In a homily rich, not only in faith, but in understanding of what it means to be military, Father Swift explained that “Ron lived in a world” where those qualities are pillars of not just “abstract principles” but pillars of existence even when they involve “pain and sacrifice…even when it means risking or even losing your life.

“That’s the world Ron lived in,” Father Swift said of the young soldier. “And the world in which you and I live is much richer because there are heroes like Ron who are willing to live that way, not just for the guy on the left and on the right, but for all of us as well.”

Father Swift comforted Kubik’s family, friends and fellow soldiers with a message of hope. “Ron no longer lives here, even though his memory is alive and his family will continue to feel his presence. He has gone to the Father’s house and I am confident Ron has been welcomed with a hearty greeting of ‘well done, good and faithful servant! Well done, good and faithful Ranger.’”

Kubik’s mother Eileen Daly, father Ronald A. Kubik and sister, Amy spoke loving words of farewell in brief eulogies after the Mass. His uncle and godfather, Deacon Alex Kubik III, assisted at the Mass.

Msgr. Ronald A. Bacovin, pastor of St. James Parish, and director of the diocesan Office of Priest Personnel, concelebrated the Mass. In his remarks, he recalled coming to know the family when he was pastor of St. John Parish, Lakehurst.

He echoed Father Swift saying that “anyone who knew” Kubik, knew of his great love of the unit he served in and the men with whom he served. “These guys are all brothers,” Msgr. Bacovin said.

Kubik was a rifle team leader assigned to the 3rd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment. Born in 1988 in Point Pleasant, he was on his third combat deployment with one previous tour of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.

He, and a fellow Ranger, Sgt. Jason Santora, Massapequa Park, N.Y., were killed in action in Logar Province, Afghanistan.

Posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and the Meritorious Service Medal, he had also received the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Kubik, who had enlisted in the Army in March, 2007, served for more than two years as an assistant machine gunner and a rifle team leader with Company D.

In eulogies that followed the Mass, fellow Rangers, including Lt. Col. Shawn L. Daniel, executive officer of the 75th Ranger Regiment, described him as a soldier with not only a profound sense of duty, but a sense of energy and interest in life.

“Ronny was his own man and lived life like he liked it,” Daniel said. “Ron, rest in peace knowing that your Ranger brothers are still pursuing the fight.”