Free Republic

Christopher S. Smith, a U.S. Army veteran who was injured in Afghanistan in 2006, died unexpectedly Thursday, Aug. 28, and will be buried with full military honors. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2 at the Belton-Stroup Funeral Home, 422 E. Dayton-Yellow Springs Road in Fairborn. The funeral service will be there at 10 a.m. Wednesday, with burial in Byron Cemetery.

“Remembering Edna” (Isaiah 43:1-3a, 25; Psalm 25:6-7; Hebrews 10:12-23; Luke 23:33-34a, 39-46; 24:1-8)It’s funny, sometimes, what we remember--and what we don’t remember. Oftentimes that’s the case with how we remember someone who has just died. Because the events leading up to that person’s death are so recent and so vivid, that may be what we tend to focus on. Or we think about that person only as they were in their last few months or their last couple of years. But really, there’s a whole lifetime of memories of that person we can be thinking about. Take our dear friend...

Solzhenitsyn Laid to Rest at Monastery 07 August 2008 By Matt Siegel / Staff Writer It was as though someone had suddenly removed the stopper from an overturned bottle. As the great man's body, hoisted high by a military procession, made its final turn on the path toward the cemetery, a sea of mourners poured down the church steps like water down a rocky crag. The crowds had to be held back as a salute was fired. They had to be held back as the choir, chanting a hymn about eternal life, hovered over the freshly dug grave. They had...

Pentagon Makes Fighting Extremism Top Priority Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Pentagon on Thursday officially named "the long war" against global extremism as its top priority and pledged to avert any conventional military threat from China or Russia through dialogue. The Defense Department, in a new national defense strategy, also emphasized the need to subordinate military operations to "soft power" initiatives to undermine Islamist militancy by promoting economic, political and social development in vulnerable corners of the world. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the change would help establish permanent institutional support for counterinsurgency skills...

Recently, my fiancee and I had the honor and privilege of being part of the escort for Cpl. Jonathan Ayers, the Snellville [GA] soldier and Shiloh graduate who was killed during an insurgent raid in Afghanistan. We, along with 165 other motorcycles in the Patriot Guard Riders, staged at the airport in Lawrenceville and formed a flag honor line on the tarmac as his flag-draped coffin was removed from the plane and presented to his grieving family and friends.It was loaded into the hearse by a six-member military honor guard while all of the Patriot Guard Riders stood at attention,...

A Genuine American Hero Navy Seals Honor One of their OwnNavySeals The story of an extraordinary funeral for an extraordinary hero. PO2 (EOD2) Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq , giving his life to save his fellow Seals. From the Summary of Action, Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor For actions on Sept. 29, 2006: Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor, United States Navy, distinguished himself through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty...

A fallen soldier returned home this morning to a hero's welcome. The body of Cpl. Matthew Phillips arrived at 9:35 a.m. Wednesday at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville. The chartered jet from Dover Air Force Base was met by an honor guard from the U.S. Army, which placed the casket into a waiting hearse for the trip to Ingram's Funeral Home in Cumming, where his body will lie in repose until a funeral Saturday. His family arrived about 45 minutes before the plane in a funeral home limousine. The soldier's widow, Eve, was escorted by an Army officer as...

Tim Russert / Archbishop George Niederauer Washington DC, Jun 18, 2008 / 04:11 am (CNA).- Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Communications Committee, the late Tim Russert on Tuesday for his devotion to his Catholic faith, family, work as a journalist and his work with Catholic charities."Russert was valued by Americans for his tremendous command of the political and electoral process and his commitment to discovering each aspect of the story that contributed to people having a better awareness of the issues of public life and candidates for political office," Archbishop Niederauer said....

Russert's funeral arrangement has been made and is as follows: On Tuesday, June 17, 2008, a wake will be held at St Albans School in Washington, DC. It will be open to the public. According to the Washington Post, the public wake will be held from 2 to 9 p.m. eastern time in the Cafritz Refectory of the Albans School, which is between Wisconsin and Massachusetts avenues. Other private vigils are being held in the Washington and in Buffalo New York areas, where Russert grew up. His funeral, which is closed to the public, will be held on Wednesday June...

Immediate Alert for Saturday Morning, Waterbury Connecticut, June 7, 2008 IN an e-mail alert from the Patriot Guard, there is supposed to be a presence of antiwar types at the FUNERAL of a fallen Marine from Waterbury TOMORROW morning early! If you can attend, be there before 9 AM maps to the location of the cemetery below, the presence of the antiwar types is supposed to be north of this location http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&dq=Riverside+cemetery+loc:+Waterbury,+CT&daddr=496+Riverside+St,+Waterbury,+CT+06708&geocode=15632629214542374654,41.548818,-73.046660&ll=41.548818,-73.046660&iwstate1=dir:to&iwloc=A&f=d The original Patriot Guard posting is here: http://www.patriotguard.org/Forums/tabid/61/postid/886371/view/topic/Default.aspx The Obituary for this Marine is located here: http://www.rep-am.com/Obituaries/346098.txt If you will not fight for right when you can easily...

“From Baptism to Burial--and Beyond” (Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:3-5)Today we began the service with the Invocation and a Remembrance of Baptism. Why did we do that? What does that have to do with a funeral service? What comfort does that give to us, Millie’s family and friends, to hear those words about baptism? Lots, actually. May these words give you great comfort now, as we go “From Baptism to Burial--and Beyond.” We began with the Invocation, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” That’s appropriate, for those are the words--that is the...

Okay, guys, I wasn't sure what to do with this or where to post it, but I just had to share it. "KICK-OFF"!?!?!?!? What WERE these folks thinking? And I'm afraid to ask what you DO at a funeral home's Family Fun Day? The name of the place alone is a little scary.

VATICAN CITY, 23 APR 2008 (VIS) - This morning in St. Peter's Basilica, Benedict XVI pronounced a homily following the funeral Mass for the late Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, who died on Saturday 19 April at the age of 72. The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals. The Holy Father traced the biography of the youngest cardinal created by John Paul II in the consistory of 1983, recalling his priestly ordination in 1960, his work as auxiliary bishop of Bogota in the 1970s, as president...

Ever since Sam was a puppy, he rarely left his owner's side. When owner Teddy Crockarell lost his battle with cancer last Monday, his wife Marcene believes Sam must have sensed something was wrong...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide bombing at a funeral for a police officer killed at least 30 people and wounded 62 others Friday in northwestern Pakistan, a police official said. The attack occurred in a government high school in Mingora town while funeral prayers were being held for a police officer killed in a roadside bombing earlier in the day, said Deputy Inspector General of Police Syed Akhtar Ali Shah. Mingora, in Swat Valley, is 105 miles from Peshawar, a town at the border with Afghanistan. Pakistan's army was deployed in Swat earlier this year to quell an uprising led...

RENO, Nev. — A small group from a Kansas-based church that protests at the funerals of U.S. soldiers faced off Saturday night against more than 150 counter-demonstrators outside a memorial service for a Reno woman killed by a serial rapist. The tense standoff during a fierce snowstorm ended peacefully when three female anti-gay protesters associated with the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., were escorted away from the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in a police van, Reno police Sgt. police Sgt. Chris Lange said.

Mitt Romney has taken a detour from the frenetic campaign trail to attend the funeral in Salt Lake City of the Mormon leader, Gordon Hinckley, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who died last week, aged 97. For the Mormon candidate, it was a diversion he could ill afford as he seeks to win enough presidential delegates on "Super Tuesday" this week to keep him in the race for the White House. Republican strategists said the funeral puts Mr Romney's Mormonism back on the political agenda - an issue he has largely managed to sideline...

Funeral services for President Gordon B. Hinckley, leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who died Sunday evening, will be held this Saturday, February 2, in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. The proceedings will be broadcast via satellite in 69 languages to over 6,000 Church buildings globally. Brigham Young University’s BYU Television will also broadcast the funeral internationally. Those who attend the funeral services at the Conference Center will need to be in their seats no later than 10:30 a.m. for an 11:00 a.m. start. Seating will be restricted to the 21,000 capacity of the...

Three of the members from the “Westboro Baptist Church” dared to enter Nevada today to picket at the funeral of one of our fallen soldiers. The family of Staff Sergeant Sean Gaul was holding an open memorial service for their fallen son today at 11:00am in Reno, NV. The three scum were met by over 200 Patriot Guard Riders and FReepers. They stayed for about 10 minutes and then fled to their car about 500 feet from their original site across the street from the Church, where the services were being held. None of the family or attendees was exposed...

SEREMBAN: Police yesterday took away the remains of a 74-year-old man from a Chinese funeral parlour near here after his eldest son claimed that the deceased was a Muslim. Abdul Rahman Gan Abdullah, 47, who had embraced Islam several years ago, lodged a report at the Seremban 2 police station claiming that his father, Gan Eng Gor, had converted to Islam on July 3 last year and had taken the name Amir Gan Abdullah. When met at the funeral parlour, one of Eng Gor’s eight other children, Hock Sin, said the family was shocked to hear of this. “When my...

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian has won a battle to give his dead wife a Christian funeral after Islamic religious authorities dropped their claim to the body on the grounds of her conversion to Islam. The row over the corpse of Wong Sau Lan, a 54-year-old ethnic Chinese woman who died on Dec. 30, was the latest in a series of disputes in mostly Muslim Malaysia that have upset non-Muslims, who fear authorities are trampling on their religious rights. "It was harrowing to wait for 18 days," said Ngiam Tee Kong, who was at his wife's bedside when she...

NOTE: there was a much better headline from another source, but we are not allowed to use that because of copyright complaint - "Nepal to watch Hillary funeral via link" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Queen Elizabeth snubs Hillary funeral: Report Wellington - Queen Elizabeth will not send a member of the British royal family to the funeral of Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary next week - a decision dubbed a snub to one of New Zealand's greatest legends on a newspaper website on Friday. The New Zealand Herald said a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman had told the paper the Queen would be represented by...

Today's memorial for a Parkville family killed in a drunken driving crash in Ohio was protested by a group that was recently ordered to pay millions for protesting the Westminster funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq. Three members of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church, known for protests at military funerals, were demonstrating about a block from St. Luke Evangelical Lutheran Church, the site of the service...

They lighted a bonfire Tuesday on Ocean Beach for Tatiana the tiger, an animal who created one tragedy and whose death was another one. Four people showed up on the beach at dusk to hold candles, huddle by the fire and watch the first sunset of 2008. "It doesn't matter how many people there are, as long as there's someone," said Jon Engdahl, . "That animal got a raw deal at our hands," he said. "Tatiana was being a tiger. We humans are the ones that make the choices. The tigers don't." For a while, Engdahl thought he and his...

Iran Asked Not to Attend Bhutto's Funeral January 01, 2008 IRNA Iran did not attend the funeral procession of the assassinated Pakistani prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, due to "special situation in Pakistan," a Foreign Ministry official said on Monday. "Iran had voiced its readiness to take part in the funeral but Pakistani officials did not agree with it due to a special situation which was developed in the country" after Bhutto's assassination, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said. Speaking to reporters at his weekly press conference, Hosseini referred to the late Bhutto's assassination as "a tragic event." Benazir, the late...

Three Philadelphia-Area Funeral Directors Nabbed in Scheme Selling Body Parts Thursday, October 04, 2007 PHILADELPHIA — Three funeral directors sold hundreds of bodies to a former oral surgeon who allegedly collected the bones, tissue and skin from the corpses to be used in transplants, a grand jury charged Thursday after a 16-month investigation. The 244 bodies fetched about $1,000 each, the grand jury found, with the body parts being transplanted in unsuspecting medical patients worldwide. Michael Mastromarino, who operated the now-defunct Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J., ran the scheme with help from a team of "cutters" who stole...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hundreds of gunmen from the shadowy Army of Islam marched in a funeral for five Gaza militants Thursday, firing in the air in their first public appearance in such large numbers. The five Army of Islam members buried Thursday were among a total of 12 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes over two days. The Israeli military said it has targeted militants involved in rocket fire on Israeli border towns. A statement from the group posted on Islamic Web sites on Thursday said a sixth member wounded in Wednesday's strike against its men had since died...

Church Refuses to Hold Funeral for Homosexual Man because it Would Include Gay Propaganda The decision is "not based on hate, or discrimination, but upon principle and policy" By Elizabeth O'Brien ARLINGTON, August 14, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Christian Church in Texas has refused to hold a funeral for a homosexual man because the family wanted to display a multimedia memorial presentation that condoned his actively homosexual lifestyle. High Point Church is a large, non-denominational parish that believes that active homosexuality is a sin, Dallas News Morning reports. When 46-year old Navy veteran Cecil Sinclair died on Monday, High Point...

Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, a convert from Judaism who sought to bring the faiths closer during his extraordinary life, is carrying on the mission in death — with a funeral rich in symbolism that includes a Jewish prayer read by a Nazi death camp survivor.Jews and Roman Catholic plan to join in front of the sculpted saints of the majestic Notre Dame Cathedral on Friday to hear the Jewish prayer, known as the Mourner's Kaddish, before the funeral Mass for the former archbishop of Paris."This was his wish, to share the remembrance this way," said Arno Lustiger, a cousin and 83-year-old...

Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were. A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must have stung quite a bit. The complaint: "Question of the day for Luke Air...

A Denham Springs man showed up at his uncle's funeral only to be kicked out by the pastor of the church. The reason? The man was wearing a dress. The pastor says he did the right thing. The transvestite insists he's heartbroken. WAFB's Caroline Moses reports on Dermaine and his dress. Dermaine Johnson says he feels more like a woman than a man, and has for a while. He is attracted to men, and on most any day, he looks more like a woman. Johnson says, "This is who I am. I can't change that, that's me. Take me or...

AUSTIN, Texas — Lady Bird Johnson made a final trip Friday to her beloved wildflower center, where friends and family followed the former first lady's casket into a gallery for a private memorial service. About 180 people gathered at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, where her coffin, draped in white cloth with blue embroidery, rested in front of a large portrait of Johnson in a field of flowers. Nearby, two vases held lavender-hued bluebells, her favorite flower. "We are here to let Lady Bird go and to celebrate her glad release," said the Rev. Stephen Kinney, former rector at...

A small group of protesters failed to disrupt funeral services in Clayton yesterday for a soldier who was killed in Iraq 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 3d.

OMAHA, Neb. - A member of the Kansas group that has drawn criticism for protesting at soldiers' funerals has been arrested for letting her 10-year-old son stomp on a U.S. flag during a demonstration. She promised Wednesday to challenge the state's flag desecration law in court. Shirley Phelps-Roper, 49, will be charged with flag mutilation, disturbing the peace and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov said Wednesday. Phelps-Roper, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, acknowledged that she allowed her son Jonah to stand on the flag Tuesday — something she says is protected...

“Welcome Home, Dan!” (Acts 2:21)Welcome home, Dan! This is the first time Dan Cash has been back in this church in about 35 years. And therein hangs a tale. Today I want to tell you the story of what God did to bring Dan back home. And this story will bring comfort and hope to each one of us here, not only as far as Dan is concerned, but also for ourselves, that God is at work to do the same for us. First, though, let me extend my sympathy to Donita and the family and friends, as you mourn...

A Kansas woman was arrested Tuesday after she had her 10-year-old son stomp on an American flag. Shirley L. Phelps-Roper, 49, of Topeka, was protesting at the Bellevue funeral of Spc. William Bailey with a group from Westboro Baptist Church. The church, founded by her father, has protested at the funerals of numerous soldiers. Bellevue Police Capt. Herb Evers said an officer saw a young boy stomping on an American flag. Phelps-Roper was then cited for contributing to the delinquency of a minor and desecration of a flag. Both are misdemeanors. She was released from Sarpy County Jail after posting...

National coverage of Marine Master Sgt. Michael Wert's death when trying to rescue two kids from drowning last week has left local officials trying to prepare for what may be an onslaught of visitors on Saturday.

I head on FNS that Joe Nichols was going to sing two songs at the funeral of Anna Nichole's funeral. That made me wonder what the songs would be -- 'Size matters' or 'Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off'.Sorry for the vanity, it has been a long week

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WHAT: EchoTaps Worldwide WHERE: Fort Snelling National Cemetery ~ Minneapolis, Minnesota WHEN: 11:00 AM ~ Saturday - May 19, 2007 ~ Armed Forces Day ADMISSION: Free ~ Open to the Public ~ Handicapped accessible CONTACT: Jeff Seeber, Project Director, condocat@att.net EchoTaps Worldwide is a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Bugles Across America to create awareness of VA programs and the availability of volunteer buglers to play Taps at the funerals of Veterans. Musicians will render Taps at 11:00 AM local time on May 19 beginning at American Battle Monuments Commission sites overseas...

I have looked high and low, and have not been able to come up with the eulogy....have heard good things about it on Rush, Hannity, Bennett and Ingraham...

The President's plane is arriving at Andrews Air Force Base at this moment.

PALM DESERT, Calif. - Army Maj. Gen. Guy C. Swan III will accompany Gerald R. Ford's family during the next several days of mourning, from Friday's services in California to the presidential burial on Wednesday, military officials said. As military escort, Swan will stay with Ford's immediate family throughout services in Palm Desert, at the Capitol in Washington and the final ceremonies in Grand Rapids, Mich. Swan, who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1976, is commanding general of the Army Military District of Washington and Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region. During the California services Friday and Saturday,...

The skinny sailor sat in the Philadelphia airport terminal in his deep-blue dress uniform, cracking his knuckles, shifting in his seat, waiting for his best friend. A woman from the airline walked over and motioned for him to follow. She saw the nervous look on the sailor's face and stopped. "Wait," she said. "Is this your first time doing this?" "Yes, ma'am," the 22 year-old said, his voice cracking. "Well, unfortunately, it's not the first time for me," she said. "Not even the first time this week." She led him toward the gate and gave him a soft smile. "You'll...

Just got word of a protest by the thugs of Westboro Baptist Church at the funeral of Cpl. Joshua Conard Sticklen at the Little Creek Amphibious Base Chapel. I cannot be there to join in the counter protest, but I'll try to post updates from any sources I can gather. The funeral is scheduled for 2 PM EST, and the announcement of the protest is posted on the WBC website, which I will not gratify with hits by posting here.

Former President Jimmy Carter said Sunday he hopes to be buried in front of his home in Plains, the southwest Georgia town where he and his wife were born. "Plains is special to us," the 82-year-old said during a three-hour live C-SPAN2 interview. "I could be buried in Arlington Cemetery or wherever I want, but my wife was born here and I was born here." As a child, Carter briefly lived next door to Rosalynn, and the two began dating in 1945. The couple married the next year and in July celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. "Plains is where our...

This lawnmower commercial is too funny not to share: http://youtube.com/watch?v=fBbp4-fQNls

BONAPARTE — On a long, winding country road they came Thursday morning. By car, truck and SUV, thousands arrived at a small southeast Iowa high school to grieve, share memories and say one last goodbye to the five slain members of a Bonaparte family. At around 9:30 a.m., the line to get inside Harmony High School was backed up three–deep. But slowly and solemnly, more than 2,000 people made their way inside to pay their last respects to the Bentler family, victims of one of Iowa's most gruesome mass murders. An hour later, the Rev. John Spiegel, one of four...

Dozens of Amish neighbors came out Saturday to mourn the quiet milkman who killed five of their young girls and wounded five more in a brief, unfathomable rampage.Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, was buried in his wife's family plot behind a small Methodist church, a few miles from the one-room schoolhouse he stormed Monday.His wife, Marie, and their three small children looked on as Roberts was buried beside the pink, heart-shaped grave of the infant daughter whose death nine years ago apparently haunted him.About half of perhaps 75 mourners on hand were Amish."It's the love, the forgiveness, the heartfelt forgiveness...

Under a cold, steady drizzle, the Amish drove in horse and buggy to a farmland cemetery Friday to bury the fifth of five girls shot to death by a school intruder. The death toll could grow, however, as one of the five girls wounded was reportedly near death.More than 40 buggies splashed along country roads behind a funeral-home car, two mounted state troopers and a carriage with the body of 12-year-old Anna Mae Stoltzfus in a hand-sawn wooden coffin.Four other girls killed during Monday's shootings, two of them sisters, were laid to rest Thursday at the same hilltop graveyard.All roads...