Posted on 07/15/2009 1:05:18 PM PDT by llevrok
From left, Sgt. First Class Tom Pearson, Beau Beck, Shelley and David Masters and Sascha Davidson watch as the casket of Pfc. Aaron Fairbairn is lowered to the tarmac at Bowerman Field on Tuesday under the watchful eye of an Honor Guard, at right. Fairbairn was killed in Afghanistan on July 4.
Six solemn-faced men in green U.S. Army dress uniforms turned their eyes to the sky Tuesday afternoon as the low whine of jet engines burned through the silence above Bowerman Field.
They stood just off the runway. A warm wind tumbled the colors on dozens of nearby American flags and lifted the wings of a plane bearing a Harbor son returning home for the last time.
Standing with the sharp precision of their somber duty, the honor guard waited quietly, staring skyward as the small jet drew closer.
More than 150 others followed their gaze, some in the uniforms of police departments or Scout groups, others clad in black leather or bandanas and a few who just wore white shirts reading:
“In Loving Memory, Pfc. Aaron Fairbairn.”
A black hearse sat parked at the edge of the tarmac, awaiting the body of the 20-year-old who grew up on the Harbor. Family, friends, local officials, school children and others lined the runway to welcome him home.
Fairbairn was killed on the Fourth of July when Taliban insurgents attacked his base in Afghanistan. He died when a truck bomb charged the front gate and exploded amid small arms and mortar fire. His friend, Pfc. Justin Casillas, 19, of California, was also killed.
Fairbairn’s mother and step-father, Shelley and David Masters, clung to his sister Sascha Davidson and sister-in-law Marcy Beck. They all wore the white memorial shirts as they stood near the hearse, wrapped in each others’ arms, trading tears and smiles with friends.
Others stood farther back, scattered between the family cars, police cruisers and the shimmering chrome of three dozen motorcycles from the Patriot Guard Riders.
“The amount of support we were shown was just great,” Marcy Beck said later. “We weren’t sure what to expect.”
As the plane touched down at about 12:30 p.m., the crowd gathered near the gate. They held hands and hoisted signs declaring their gratitude.
The members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a motorcycle group that attends services for fallen soldiers, stood at attention as the plane taxied to a stop. Beck’s 5-year-old son, Cameron, held his hands high with a small American flag clutched in each fist.
The Patriot Guard Riders formed parallel lines on each side of the plane to salute the body. Then, Fairbairn’s family stepped forward as the jet’s door slowly hummed open.
His brother Beau Beck, who flew across the country with the remains from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, emerged from the plane and hugged each family member.
With their backs to the crowd, the white memorial shirts clearly displayed an American flag and the words, “All gave some. Some gave all.”
Men removed their hats as the honor guard marched to the plane in silence. The soft cry of babies occasionally pierced the quiet. Others soon joined them as tears and sniffles spread through the crowd. Many dabbed at their eyes with tissue or put their hands to their mouths.
“Everyone was very supportive,” Shelley Masters said later. “Everyone was wonderful.”
The family, still huddled arm-in-arm, tried to stifle sobs as the honor guard lifted the casket from the plane and carried it the short distance across the asphalt.
Davidson, Fairbairn’s sister, would later embrace a family friend in tears crying, “It doesn’t seem real.”
The soldiers paused at the hearse, which would bear the body amid a nearly mile-long procession through Hoquiam to Harrison Family Mortuary in Aberdeen.
Marcy Beck said the procession passed rows and rows of supporters along the streets as the cars drove by the Hoquiam Fire Department and City Hall. Flags flew at half-staff in Fairbairn’s honor.
“Everywhere, there were people,” she said. “There was not a street unlined.”
With the wind at Bowerman Field carrying the scent of summer grass and the hush of more than 150 silent thank yous, the six solemn-faced men eased their fellow soldier into the polished hearse.
The plane’s pilots stood with their hands over their hearts. Boys Scouts saluted alongside elderly war veterans. Friends and neighbors wept.
Then the hearse’s heavy door clicked shut, leaving Fairbairn’s grieving family and dozens of grateful strangers reflected in its dark, tinted windows.
RIP good soldier. May God comfort the family.
Prayers for PFC Fairborn and his family.
After the fall of Saigon, I disconnected from the pain and went about living. Now I have a son who’s bound for Afghanistan with the First Marines and they all seem like family. I don’t know which is harder.
Thank you, Pfc. Fairbairn. May God reward you well and comfort your loved ones who still live in the mortal stage.
God bless you hero.
IMHO, they are all family. The American family.
I wish for a safe tour for your son. He's in good hands with the Marines.
Spok, yes they are ALL family, we remember, we know, God bless your son. My tag line just has a few of those we were connected with, well, that scarlet thread is still connected and shall be until our last breath.
They were known, we loved them, not just names and ranks but faces, personalities, real...
Prayers for your son and his safe return. I know what you mean about all of them feeling like family.
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