OYSTER BAY, New York (AP) - War correspondent Marie Colvin is being laid to rest in the Long Island community of her childhood where she first decided to become a reporter.
A funeral is being held Monday at St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church for the Sunday Times of London journalist killed while covering the Syrian government's crackdown in the country where thousands of civilians have been killed since a popular uprising began a year ago.
The 56-year-old spoke her last words in a television dispatch from a village, while watching a baby boy dying. She said seeing the horror might "move people to think, why is this going on?"
A mammoth American flag was hung along the street outside the funeral home that handled arrangements for Colvin.
At her wake Sunday, mourners passed by a portrait of Colvin by a Sri Lankan artist. She lost her left eye in 2001 in that country's civil war and wore her signature eye patch since then.
The British government has ordered an investigation into Colvin's death to build a war-crimes case against Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
Colvin was killed on Feb. 22 when the building that served as a makeshift media center in the village of Homs was struck by a Syrian army mortar.
Only a few hours earlier, she appeared in a final live broadcast with CNN's Anderson Cooper, telling him the Syrians were shelling "a city of cold, starving civilians."
"It's a complete and utter lie that they are only going after terrorists," she added. "There are no military targets here."
The victims were civilians.
"Absolutely horrific, a 2-year old child had been hit," Colvin said. "His little tummy just kept heaving until he died."
It was a challenge to get Colvin's remains out of Syria amid the violence. A Polish diplomat received her remains from the Syrian Red Crescent, flying them home to New York via Paris.
She's is survived by two brothers, two sisters, and her mother, who lived in East Norwich, Long Island, outside New York City.
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