A Harley-Davidson pulls a trailer bearing the casket of Army Staff Sgt.
Michael Deason through Farmington on Sunday.
(By Jerry Naunheim Jr./P-D)
Posted on 09/11/2006 5:32:47 AM PDT by StarCMC
What a minister called "literally thousands of people" lined the streets of four towns in St. Francois and Washington counties for a funeral procession Sunday afternoon for a Desloge soldier killed by a grenade blast last month in Iraq.
The four-mile procession snaked through Farmington, Frankclay and Desloge to a cemetery in Irondale, where Army Staff Sgt. Michael Deason was buried.
Deason, 28, was killed Aug. 31 in Ad-Dwar, Iraq, when a grenade hit his Humvee and ripped through his body armor, military officials said. Deason, a member of the 101st Airborne Division, died just a week before wrapping up his second tour of duty in Iraq.
Deason left behind a wife, Tiffany Deason, a son, Jayden, 2, and a daughter, Kayler, 9 months.
*snip*
The procession rolled under a giant American flag suspended by ladder trucks in Desloge, matching the hundreds of flags waved by saluting bystanders clutching posters. More than 100 members of the Patriot Guard Riders - motorcyclists who protect military families from protesters during funerals - rode in the procession. No protesters showed up at Deason's funeral.
*snip*
"His death did not make him a hero," said Dush, a lifelong friend of Deason's. "His life and how he chose to live made him a hero."
*snip*
On Sunday, Michael Deason was awarded five medals, including a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a Combat Action Badge, which were presented to his family at the service.
*snip*
Memorials may be sent to The Michael Deason Memorial Fund benefiting Jayden & Kayler Deason, Taylor Funeral Service Inc. P.O. Box 12, Farmington, Mo. 63640-0012.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
A Harley-Davidson pulls a trailer bearing the casket of Army Staff Sgt.
Michael Deason through Farmington on Sunday.
(By Jerry Naunheim Jr./P-D)
I absolutely HATE excerpting, but I had to.
This, to me, said it all....
"His death did not make him a hero," said Dush, a lifelong friend of Deason's. "His life and how he chose to live made him a hero."
Thank you God, for men and women like him.
AMEN.
Staff Sgt. Michael Deason, one of America's finest.
May God Bless him and his family.
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