MADISON -- Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard's aim was to serve, and nothing else.

That's what drove him to follow in his father's footsteps and enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps.

It's also what brought him to the front lines of combat in Iraq and, more recently, in Afghanistan's Helmand province, where he died on Aug. 14.

Bernard, of New Portland, was 21.

Friends, family and fellow church members on Monday remembered Bernard as an unassuming and intelligent man who was an integral part of his church community.

"Humble, shy, nothing but service," his father, John Bernard, said during the fallen Marine's funeral at Crossroads Bible Church in Madison. "That was it. No ulterior motive, no grandeur, no pictures in the paper, but he got them anyway."

Joshua Bernard was home-schooled in New Portland before he enlisted in the Marine Corps in November 2006.

"I gave him every reason in the world not to join," John Bernard said. "I just didn't want him joining for any other reason than the right one."

Joshua Bernard was assigned to his unit -- the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii -- in May 2007. He was deployed to Iraq in January 2008 and had been in Afghanistan since May.

Bernard was his unit's religious leader, since the unit was without a chaplain. Fellow Marines came to know him as "The Holy Man."

John Bernard was certain his son enlisted in military service for the right reason.

"By the time he went into the Marine Corps, he knew exactly who he was," he said.

Everyone is "pre-wired" to do something in life, John Bernard said. And for Joshua Bernard, that was enlisting in the Marines.

"We're prepared to give the ultimate cost," John Bernard said of Marines. "I don't think there's any greater type of service any person can give. That cost represents so much."

Friends and family members, in remarks at the funeral, recalled Joshua Bernard as a man who was quick to listen, had a sharp wit and put others' needs before his own.

At church, Bernard was an active member of the congregation's youth group.

"He was well-disciplined before he entered the Marines, focused in what he wanted to do," said Bernard's pastor, the Rev. Valmore Vigue.

Joshua Bernard, a rifleman, quickly mastered his tasks in the Marine Corps, Vigue said.

"He was a warrior, not a man who wanted to kill, but to protect his nation. He was diligent, not reckless," Vigue said. "It may not be possible to find a better young Marine in the world than Lance Cpl. Josh Bernard. And that's not an understatement."

In addition to his father, Bernard leaves behind his mother, Sharon, and a sister, Katie, all of New Portland.

Bernard was buried at the East New Portland Cemetery.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811,

ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com