Texas ? Army 1st Lt. Benjamin Thomas Britt helped make a difference in the world, Monsignor Joseph Tash told mourners gathered Monday for the funeral of the 24-year-old soldier killed while leading a patrol in Iraq.

Britt, a member of the Army’s 101st Airborne, died Dec. 22 in Baghdad.

While mourners filled the 1,000 gymnasium seats at Wheeler High School, about 20 protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., gathered outside to hand out fliers saying American soldiers are dying in foreign lands because of the country’s support of homosexuality, the Amarillo Globe-News reported in its Tuesday editions.

The protesters’ chants were drowned out from motorcycle riders surrounding the group and revving their engines.