NASHUA, N.H. (AP) – Born in Kenya, Marine Raban Anthony Kimungu fought for America. And on Friday, he was buried as an American citizen.

U.S. Marines carried Kimungu’s flag-draped casket into the church Friday morning for a service full of family stories and Christian hymns sung in English and Kikuyu that lasted into the afternoon. There, family members were presented with his citizenship papers.

Kimungu, 24, of Hudson survived two tours of duty in Iraq, including a sniper’s bullet to the head, then was killed in a car accident Oct. 27 in Nashua. When he died, he was waiting for word on his application to become a citizen.

Family and friends pressed for quick action on the citizenship after Kimungu died and it came through. U.S. Rep. Charles Bass presented Kimungu’s mother Penny Wangiru Jones and his sisters with the document Friday, “with my greatest gratitude for what he has done for America,” he said.

“This is a sad day,” Bass said at the funeral at First Church. “But it’s also a day of celebration. Everyone who serves America… is a hero in his or her own way. Raban Kimungu was more than that. He did more than most could imagine.”

The lengthy service included many joyous affirmations of the man they’d nicknamed “Baba” because he was the only boy in his immediate family. Kimungu has a twin sister, one older and one younger sister in addition to his mother.

“We call him Baba because he is the nucleus of our family,” explained George Njoroge, a cousin.

After coming to Nashua at the age of two, Kimungu was surrounded by a large extended family with Kenyan ties.

Robert Kimungu remembered growing up with his cousin and being fed from the same spoon. “One person could not feed us fast enough,” he said, describing the pair of them like baby birds in a nest.

At the age of 12, Raban Kimungu moved to nearby Hudson where he attended middle and high school.

He joined the U.S. Marines in the fall of 2002, and while he wasn’t too keen on boot camp, his cousin said, he thrived in the military, returning to Iraq after recovering from a sniper’s bullet to the head. He was home when he died. Police are still investigating the crash.

“He brought together every community he ever lived in,” Kimungu said. “Baba was a man who loved life and always wanted others to do the same.”

Kimungu remembered one of his cousin’s recent visits on leave from the military. Baba was tired and planned only to relax, he said.

But he had a reputation for throwing wonderful parties and everywhere he went, people wanted to know when was the next party.

“So he had another one of his big bashes,” Kimungu said. “Everyone had a good time.”

One running joke involved Raban Kimungu’s eagerness to speak about his life. “If you want to know about me just ask about me,” Robert Kimungu recalled his cousin saying many times.

And in honor of that catch phrase, a Web site has been launched about Kimungu www.askaboutme.net.

The happy memories and reminders that Baba was with God helped to temper the family’s grief.

“God had something for Baba and what we think is a loss to us is a gain to almighty God,” George Njoroge said. “We are left with a God who is going to take care of us and take care of Baba.”

But Njoroge urged people to remember Kimungu’s sacrifice and be inspired to do what they can to make the world a better place.

“We know there’s a God. We know there’s a good reason,” said his Uncle Ben Kimungu.