thedrifter
05-07-06, 08:10 AM
A hero laid to rest
By David O'connor
Lancaster New Era
Published: May 06, 2006 12:22 PM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - “I should’ve been a Cowboy
I should’ve learned to rope and ride
Wearing my six-shooter riding my pony on a cattle drive
Stealing the young girls’ hearts
Just like Gene and Roy
Singing those campfire songs
I should’ve been a cowboy.”
-“Should’ve Been A Cowboy,” by Toby Keith
They talked about the time that Brandon Hardy went into a convenience store, wearing his beloved cowboy hat, and a woman standing there said, “Wow, a REAL cowboy!”
They talked about how, despite the dangers of serving as a Marine in Iraq, Brandon believed in what he was doing, and had the strength in his Christian faith to not be afraid of the worst.
Chad Hardy talked about the older brother who was his hunting and fishing buddy, who would both protect him and play good-natured practical jokes on little bro.
And Samantha DiGrazio, who received Brandon Hardy’s proposal of marriage in storybook fashion just two months ago, now allowed her beloved’s pastor to share a personal note that Hardy had sent from Iraq.
He wanted to make sure she knew how much he loved her, how he couldn’t wait to marry her.
And “if something freaky does happen” in Iraq, he also wrote, know that “I love you, and I always will.”
They brought Brandon Michael Hardy home on Friday, a week after a roadside bomb in Iraq ended life on Earth for the Marine corporal from Cochranville.
As hundreds gathered in Calvary Monument Bible Church in Paradise, and many more stood along the road outside, those who knew him best told of his love for God and Christ.
They told of his love for his family and country, and the spirit of a young man with the tough outside of a Marine and the gentle spirit inside who told his girl of his love for her.
Hardy’s family just heard the awful news a week ago Friday, that their 25-year-old son had been killed in Iraq in service to his country.
Now, this Friday, it seemed as if all who lived along the Lancaster-Chester county line stood in the warm, hazy sunshine, forming two lines outside the big country church.
And six military pallbearers carried Hardy’s coffin to a gravesite in the cemetery that adjoins Calvary Monument.
The loss of a hero who was so young and full of life, and had so much more to give, might have might little or no sense to many who came out to pay their respects to Hardy, a 1999 Octorara High graduate.
But that was when the church’s pastor, and Hardy family friend, the Rev. Tony Jackson had something he wanted everyone to know.
Hardy had lived a full, packed life in just a little more than 25 years, and he had died doing something he loved and wanted to do, the pastor said.
Even more important, in an uncertain world, Hardy had accepted Christ as his savior when he was 6, so as the Bible makes clear, “Brandon is not here ... Brandon is with the Lord,” the pastor said.
At a time of such a heart-breaking loss, the faith of Hardy’s family and many friends seemed to permeate the funeral and burial services.
Hardy was the son of Warren and Jill Hardy, and his father, a tall, handsome man with white hair, spoke Friday to the nearly 700 people who filled the Paradise church.
He emphasized that he is able to accept the loss of his son, even though there’s his human side that would want his son back at whatever the cost.
Also, he said, “the logistics of thanking everyone is overwhelming. The love and support of our community has been incredible. Please accept our sincere gratitude and thanks to ALL of you.”
And 16-year-old Chad Hardy tried to capture what his older brother and hero had been about.
But “I can look forward to seeing him again” in heaven, he said. “He wouldn’t want us to cry ... he has a new duty, guarding the streets of heaven.”
Through much of the 90-minute memorial service, a screen projected, over the Stars and Stripes, a Bible verse from 2 Timothy 4:7 that mom Jill Hardy said perfectly fit her son: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”
Meanwhile, they told stories of one who on the outside was a rugged man’s man, “a dead ringer for George Strait,” the country singer, Pastor Jackson said.
But on the inside, Hardy had a tender heart, and he “didn’t waste his life ... he shared it,” his pastor added.
Joking, Jackson wondered if Hardy now had on, in heaven, the biggest belt buckle you ever saw.
Hardy had served five years in the U.S. Air Force, and while “he loved the Air Force ... he just kind of felt he wasn’t doing enough. He needed to do more,” his mother said earlier this week.
While in Iraq, Hardy had told his family he had been captivated by the children who swarmed soldiers when they got out of their armored vehicles.
A staff sergeant when he left the Air Force, Hardy started over again at the bottom rank with the Marines, going through boot camp and then, just last month, being promoted to corporal.
He was killed while conducting combat operations against enemy forces inside Al Anbar province, and was stationed about 250 miles northwest of Baghdad in the Haditha Dam area.
Hardy had proposed to DiGrazio in true style, during a concert by country performer Trace Adkins in early February at the American Music Theatre, one of two surprise proposals that night.
“She knows being in the Marines makes me happy,” Hardy had said at the time.
“And our families are very close, so she’ll have a lot of support.” They were planning to get married in January.
Now, on Friday, the rows of people, many in dark clothes and many wiping tears, stood in respect to the fallen hero.
Someone gently played “The Marines’ Hymn,” and six Marines walked down the middle of the two lines, carrying the young man, who died doing what he loved, one last time.
Ellie
By David O'connor
Lancaster New Era
Published: May 06, 2006 12:22 PM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - “I should’ve been a Cowboy
I should’ve learned to rope and ride
Wearing my six-shooter riding my pony on a cattle drive
Stealing the young girls’ hearts
Just like Gene and Roy
Singing those campfire songs
I should’ve been a cowboy.”
-“Should’ve Been A Cowboy,” by Toby Keith
They talked about the time that Brandon Hardy went into a convenience store, wearing his beloved cowboy hat, and a woman standing there said, “Wow, a REAL cowboy!”
They talked about how, despite the dangers of serving as a Marine in Iraq, Brandon believed in what he was doing, and had the strength in his Christian faith to not be afraid of the worst.
Chad Hardy talked about the older brother who was his hunting and fishing buddy, who would both protect him and play good-natured practical jokes on little bro.
And Samantha DiGrazio, who received Brandon Hardy’s proposal of marriage in storybook fashion just two months ago, now allowed her beloved’s pastor to share a personal note that Hardy had sent from Iraq.
He wanted to make sure she knew how much he loved her, how he couldn’t wait to marry her.
And “if something freaky does happen” in Iraq, he also wrote, know that “I love you, and I always will.”
They brought Brandon Michael Hardy home on Friday, a week after a roadside bomb in Iraq ended life on Earth for the Marine corporal from Cochranville.
As hundreds gathered in Calvary Monument Bible Church in Paradise, and many more stood along the road outside, those who knew him best told of his love for God and Christ.
They told of his love for his family and country, and the spirit of a young man with the tough outside of a Marine and the gentle spirit inside who told his girl of his love for her.
Hardy’s family just heard the awful news a week ago Friday, that their 25-year-old son had been killed in Iraq in service to his country.
Now, this Friday, it seemed as if all who lived along the Lancaster-Chester county line stood in the warm, hazy sunshine, forming two lines outside the big country church.
And six military pallbearers carried Hardy’s coffin to a gravesite in the cemetery that adjoins Calvary Monument.
The loss of a hero who was so young and full of life, and had so much more to give, might have might little or no sense to many who came out to pay their respects to Hardy, a 1999 Octorara High graduate.
But that was when the church’s pastor, and Hardy family friend, the Rev. Tony Jackson had something he wanted everyone to know.
Hardy had lived a full, packed life in just a little more than 25 years, and he had died doing something he loved and wanted to do, the pastor said.
Even more important, in an uncertain world, Hardy had accepted Christ as his savior when he was 6, so as the Bible makes clear, “Brandon is not here ... Brandon is with the Lord,” the pastor said.
At a time of such a heart-breaking loss, the faith of Hardy’s family and many friends seemed to permeate the funeral and burial services.
Hardy was the son of Warren and Jill Hardy, and his father, a tall, handsome man with white hair, spoke Friday to the nearly 700 people who filled the Paradise church.
He emphasized that he is able to accept the loss of his son, even though there’s his human side that would want his son back at whatever the cost.
Also, he said, “the logistics of thanking everyone is overwhelming. The love and support of our community has been incredible. Please accept our sincere gratitude and thanks to ALL of you.”
And 16-year-old Chad Hardy tried to capture what his older brother and hero had been about.
But “I can look forward to seeing him again” in heaven, he said. “He wouldn’t want us to cry ... he has a new duty, guarding the streets of heaven.”
Through much of the 90-minute memorial service, a screen projected, over the Stars and Stripes, a Bible verse from 2 Timothy 4:7 that mom Jill Hardy said perfectly fit her son: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”
Meanwhile, they told stories of one who on the outside was a rugged man’s man, “a dead ringer for George Strait,” the country singer, Pastor Jackson said.
But on the inside, Hardy had a tender heart, and he “didn’t waste his life ... he shared it,” his pastor added.
Joking, Jackson wondered if Hardy now had on, in heaven, the biggest belt buckle you ever saw.
Hardy had served five years in the U.S. Air Force, and while “he loved the Air Force ... he just kind of felt he wasn’t doing enough. He needed to do more,” his mother said earlier this week.
While in Iraq, Hardy had told his family he had been captivated by the children who swarmed soldiers when they got out of their armored vehicles.
A staff sergeant when he left the Air Force, Hardy started over again at the bottom rank with the Marines, going through boot camp and then, just last month, being promoted to corporal.
He was killed while conducting combat operations against enemy forces inside Al Anbar province, and was stationed about 250 miles northwest of Baghdad in the Haditha Dam area.
Hardy had proposed to DiGrazio in true style, during a concert by country performer Trace Adkins in early February at the American Music Theatre, one of two surprise proposals that night.
“She knows being in the Marines makes me happy,” Hardy had said at the time.
“And our families are very close, so she’ll have a lot of support.” They were planning to get married in January.
Now, on Friday, the rows of people, many in dark clothes and many wiping tears, stood in respect to the fallen hero.
Someone gently played “The Marines’ Hymn,” and six Marines walked down the middle of the two lines, carrying the young man, who died doing what he loved, one last time.
Ellie