thedrifter
06-28-08, 12:48 PM
June 28, 2008
Lance Cpl. Andrew Whitacre's family, friends and town mourn as he's laid to rest
By JOY LEIKER
jleiker@muncie.gannett.com
PORTLAND -- "All roads led to Patriot pride. United we stand. Jay County Patriots."
On a day where putting grief and love into words was so difficult, the words on a small banner hanging inside the Jay County High School gymnasium, home of the Patriots, said it all.
Loved ones and strangers gathered here Friday to honor Lance Cpl. Andrew Whitacre, 21, who died June 19 in Farah Province, Afghanistan.
Three years ago this month Whitacre's friends and family gathered in this same spot to celebrate his high school graduation. And a month after that, at the age of 17, he joined the U.S. Marines.
Since then, he's served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"To me, he was a hero," said Glen Bryant, an Army veteran of the Korean War era from Portland who said he never met the fallen Marine. But that didn't matter. He, along with other members of the American Legion Post 211 Honor Guard, including Korean, Vietnam and World War II veterans, paid their respects Friday.
That kinship wasn't limited to those who wore a uniform. Hundreds attended Whitacre's funeral, and hundreds more stopped what they were doing Friday to line the 8.5-mile-route from the school, through Portland and Bryant to his final resting place at Gravel Hill Cemetery.
"Sometimes words don't need to be shared," said Pastor Paul VanCise. "Sometimes standing together is enough."
But when words were necessary, Whitacre's were the most compelling. And the most heartbreaking.
"For I will give my life of pleasure to ensure that you are free."
It's a poignant line in "War Poem," one of Whitacre's many creations. His sister Ashley Williams choked back tears as she read her little brother's words.
Those words, and his actions, obviously came true. Friday, the Marines presented his family with the Purple Heart.
"This is not the homecoming we had planned." said his fiancée, Casey McGuire.
Their April wedding was supposed to remain the focus.
McGuire fell in love with the boy who grew up in small-town Indiana. Whitacre loved four-wheelers and two-wheelers, Hulk Hogan and WWF wrestling. He never grew too old for jokes and pranks, and his family never grew tired of being his target.
After every visit home from his base in California, the television remote control in Bryant would go missing. Did he take it on purpose? Did it accidentally get packed in his bags? No one ever knew. But his stepmother Norma Whitacre finally pulled the last joke. She bought a remote control that was as large as a piece of paper.
As much as he was a silly prankster, Whitacre was a serious and dedicated Marine. Sgt. Gene Silva admitted he didn't like Whitacre much when he first met him.
"I did not like that cocky sun of a gun at all," Silva said. But he learned Whitacre wasn't just another Marine who thought he knew it all. He was responsible and prepared, Silva said. And he looked out for his fellow Marines.
Congressman Mike Pence said the people of his district "would have me nowhere else on this hour than praying with you and being with you and expressing their undying gratitude for the like and work and service of Lance Cpl. Andrew Whitacre."
Pence referred to Afghanistan as, "without question the front line of the war on terror."
"His name will be enshrined forever on hearts of two grateful nations," Pence said, referring to both the U.S. and Afghanistan.
The people of one of those grateful nations, and specifically a grateful hometown, said good-bye Friday. Some waved American flags. Others wore red, white and blue. And there were many tears.
Veterans of all ages saluted Whitacre's casket and the miles and miles of cars that followed it to the cemetery.
Motorcyclists from the Patriot Guard Riders and U.S. Patriots were there. And so were Marty Yocum and Wanda Besser, members of the Geneva VFW Women's Auxiliary. As they waited for all to arrive at the cemetery, the women walked through the crowd and handed people flags.
Two U.S. flags -- one from atop his casket, another previously folded into a tight triangle -- were presented to his parents, who are divorced. Three gun shots belted through the air as if to briefly stop, but ultimately intensify the crying. And finally, the solemn tones of Taps drifted through the wind.
Three hours after the funeral had begun, it was finally over.
Those who had lined the streets were back to work. VanCise, the pastor, said no one would forget the local man who gave his life for his country, and for the people at home in Jay County. He urged the family to lean on the rest of us when in need.
"Forgive us those days if it seems we have forgotten," the pastor said at the cemetery. "We haven't."
Ellie
Lance Cpl. Andrew Whitacre's family, friends and town mourn as he's laid to rest
By JOY LEIKER
jleiker@muncie.gannett.com
PORTLAND -- "All roads led to Patriot pride. United we stand. Jay County Patriots."
On a day where putting grief and love into words was so difficult, the words on a small banner hanging inside the Jay County High School gymnasium, home of the Patriots, said it all.
Loved ones and strangers gathered here Friday to honor Lance Cpl. Andrew Whitacre, 21, who died June 19 in Farah Province, Afghanistan.
Three years ago this month Whitacre's friends and family gathered in this same spot to celebrate his high school graduation. And a month after that, at the age of 17, he joined the U.S. Marines.
Since then, he's served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"To me, he was a hero," said Glen Bryant, an Army veteran of the Korean War era from Portland who said he never met the fallen Marine. But that didn't matter. He, along with other members of the American Legion Post 211 Honor Guard, including Korean, Vietnam and World War II veterans, paid their respects Friday.
That kinship wasn't limited to those who wore a uniform. Hundreds attended Whitacre's funeral, and hundreds more stopped what they were doing Friday to line the 8.5-mile-route from the school, through Portland and Bryant to his final resting place at Gravel Hill Cemetery.
"Sometimes words don't need to be shared," said Pastor Paul VanCise. "Sometimes standing together is enough."
But when words were necessary, Whitacre's were the most compelling. And the most heartbreaking.
"For I will give my life of pleasure to ensure that you are free."
It's a poignant line in "War Poem," one of Whitacre's many creations. His sister Ashley Williams choked back tears as she read her little brother's words.
Those words, and his actions, obviously came true. Friday, the Marines presented his family with the Purple Heart.
"This is not the homecoming we had planned." said his fiancée, Casey McGuire.
Their April wedding was supposed to remain the focus.
McGuire fell in love with the boy who grew up in small-town Indiana. Whitacre loved four-wheelers and two-wheelers, Hulk Hogan and WWF wrestling. He never grew too old for jokes and pranks, and his family never grew tired of being his target.
After every visit home from his base in California, the television remote control in Bryant would go missing. Did he take it on purpose? Did it accidentally get packed in his bags? No one ever knew. But his stepmother Norma Whitacre finally pulled the last joke. She bought a remote control that was as large as a piece of paper.
As much as he was a silly prankster, Whitacre was a serious and dedicated Marine. Sgt. Gene Silva admitted he didn't like Whitacre much when he first met him.
"I did not like that cocky sun of a gun at all," Silva said. But he learned Whitacre wasn't just another Marine who thought he knew it all. He was responsible and prepared, Silva said. And he looked out for his fellow Marines.
Congressman Mike Pence said the people of his district "would have me nowhere else on this hour than praying with you and being with you and expressing their undying gratitude for the like and work and service of Lance Cpl. Andrew Whitacre."
Pence referred to Afghanistan as, "without question the front line of the war on terror."
"His name will be enshrined forever on hearts of two grateful nations," Pence said, referring to both the U.S. and Afghanistan.
The people of one of those grateful nations, and specifically a grateful hometown, said good-bye Friday. Some waved American flags. Others wore red, white and blue. And there were many tears.
Veterans of all ages saluted Whitacre's casket and the miles and miles of cars that followed it to the cemetery.
Motorcyclists from the Patriot Guard Riders and U.S. Patriots were there. And so were Marty Yocum and Wanda Besser, members of the Geneva VFW Women's Auxiliary. As they waited for all to arrive at the cemetery, the women walked through the crowd and handed people flags.
Two U.S. flags -- one from atop his casket, another previously folded into a tight triangle -- were presented to his parents, who are divorced. Three gun shots belted through the air as if to briefly stop, but ultimately intensify the crying. And finally, the solemn tones of Taps drifted through the wind.
Three hours after the funeral had begun, it was finally over.
Those who had lined the streets were back to work. VanCise, the pastor, said no one would forget the local man who gave his life for his country, and for the people at home in Jay County. He urged the family to lean on the rest of us when in need.
"Forgive us those days if it seems we have forgotten," the pastor said at the cemetery. "We haven't."
Ellie