Patriot Guard Riders Forum - Mission Complete- Pfc. David J. Bentz III, 20, Newfield, NJ, 29 JUN 07
Posted on 06/30/2007 10:16:44 AM PDT by Calpernia
CLAYTON, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- A small group of protesters failed to disrupt funeral services held Friday for a South Jersey soldier who was killed in Iraq earlier this month.
Veterans, Boy Scouts and area residents, many waving American flags, lined the street outside St. Catherine of Siena Church, where the funeral service was held for Pfc. David J. Bentz III.
Bentz, 20, a 2004 graduate of Clayton High School, was killed June 20 when his Army vehicle was struck by enemy fire in Baghdad.
Before Bentz was laid to rest in Gloucester County Veterans Memorial Cemetery, military officials posthumously awarded him five decorations and awards, including a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
The funeral was protested by three representatives of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, whose members contend that military deaths in Iraq are God's punishment for America's tolerance of gays.
Standing behind barricades placed about 500 feet away from the church, the distance required by a state law that was passed in response to the group, the protesters carried signs, shouted and sang songs.
However, they were opposed by about 30 members of the Pennsylvania-based Patriot Guard motorcycle veterans group, who responded to the protesters by loudly singing the national anthem.
God Bless you all!
PGR ping
Damn, I wish I would have known I would have gone to support the family.
God bless PGR & our troops!
Fine young man. Prayers for the family.
Future WBC protest funerals:
WBC to picket memorial for Army Pfc. Raymond N. Spencer Jr. - at 10:15 a.m., Sat., June 30 - at Memorial Park Funeral Home, 8201 Greenback Ln., Fair Oaks, CA.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Spc. Karen N. Clifton - at 12:15 p.m., Sat., June 30 - at Dawson-Wikoff Funeral Home, 105 W. Main St., Zion, Illinois.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Pfc. Thomas Ray Leemhuis - at 1:15 p.m., Sat., June 30 - at Binger High School (Gym), 300 S. Apache, Binger, Oklahoma.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Sgt. Eric L. Snell - at 10:15 a.m., Sat., June 30 - at Campbell Funeral Home, 1225 Calhoun Street, Trenton, New Jersey.
WBC to picket memorial for Army 1st Lt. Daniel Riordan - at 9:15 a.m., Sat., June 30 - at St. Catherine Laboure Church, 9740 Sappington Rd., Sunset Hills, MO.
WBC to picket memorial for AF Airman 1st Class Jason Nathan - at 12:15 p.m., Sat., June 30 - at Memorial Park Funeral Home, 3969 Mercer Univ. Dr., Macon, Georgia.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Sgt. Darren Hubbell - at 9:15 a.m., Sat., June 30 - at Christian Life Fellowship Church, Sunlight St. & Hwy. 23, Cobbtown, Georgia.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Sgt. Ryan M. Wood - at 9:45 a.m., Mon., July 2 - at Church of the Servant, 14343 N. Macarthur Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Spc. Eric C. Palmer - at 10:15 a.m., Mon., July 2 - at St. Vincent DePaul Church, 123 N. Andover Rd., Andover, Kansas.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Sgt. lst Class Wm. A. Zapfe - at 9:15 a.m., Mon., July 2 - at Eckler-Hudson Funeral Home, 30 S. Main, Dry Ridge, Kentucky.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Pfc. Tony Hebert - at 10:15 a.m., Mon., July 2 - at St. Mary’s of the Lake Catholic Church, 419 W. Lyon, Lake City, Minnesota.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Pfc. Henry Byrd III - at 8:15 a.m., Tue., July 3 - at Our Lady of Belen Church, 101 North 10th St., Belen, New Mexico.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Sgt. Michael Montpetit - at 9:15 a.m., Tue., July 3 - at Crawford Funeral Home, 211 W. Ave. B, Copperas Cove, TX.
WBC to picket memorial for Army 1st Lt. Frank Walkup IV - at 9:15 a.m., Wed., July 4 - at Woodbury Funeral Home, 504 W. Main St., Woodbury, Tennessee.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Pfc. Joshua Modgling - at 9:15 a.m., Fri., July 6 - at Arlington Mortuary, 9645 Magnolia Ave., Riverside, California.
WBC to picket memorial for Army Spc. Carter Gamble Jr. - at 11:15 a.m., Fri., July 6 - at Edgewood Methodist Church, 3969 Edgewood Circle, Columbus, Georgia.
WBC to picket Warner-Chappell, Michael Jackson, Lionel Ritchie, and Quincy Jones - at noon, Sat., June 2 - at 10000 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, California, - AND -
at the 2007 Essence Music Festival - July 7 - at New Orleans, Louisiana
Rest in peace soldier.
Patriot Guard will be watching over Tonk on Monday. God Bless them all.
Bless Tonk and bless them for looking out for a brother.
Somebody should file RICO charges against these clowns to ensure that they get the message....*no more defiling the funerals of our fallen soldiers!*
Yeh, I had to wonder if GHF was there when I read this.
I really don’t understand why these “people” are still alive.
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