both TonyRo76 and LasVegasDave.
Posted on 10/30/2009 2:57:08 AM PDT by Pontiac
As Baker's flag-draped casket was lowered from a small charter jet into the hands of six fellow Marines, his family and friends stood arm-in-arm, weeping on the tarmac at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Stillness and silence dominated the scene. The sound of passenger planes taking off and landing was drowned out by the weight of the scene unfolding at ground level.
That silence was broken only when a police bagpiper began playing "When the Saints Go Marching In." Baker's casket then was loaded into a waiting hearse, and scores of policemen and firefighters — from no fewer than 25 area departments — surrounding the family saluted the 22-year-old Painesville Township native.
Baker and his family then were escorted by police and hundreds of members of the Leathernecks Nation, Freedom Riders, Blue Knights and Axemen motorcycle clubs to Monreal Funeral Home in Eastlake.
(Excerpt) Read more at news-herald.com ...
Lake County Ping please
...his family and friends stood arm-in-arm, weeping
on the tarmac...
...and the ones they leave behind.
Bump
RIP Brave Marine.
The beginning of the story...
On an end table at Laurie Lewkowski's Painesville Township home sits a framed studio portrait of her four children laughing and smiling at one another.
It was a candid moment captured last Christmas, the last time Lewkowski's two sons and two daughters — three of whom either have served or currently serve in the military — were home at the same time.
Shortly after the photo was taken, one of her sons, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. David Raymond Baker, left to serve his country in Afghanistan.
We did the picture before "our" deployment. It was horrid, because we knew why. I wouldn't let anyone smile. Are we lucky? Are we blessed? No. "We" just survived. Nothing more, nothing less. No injuries even, but scars all around, nonetheless.
Prayers up to the family of this fallen Marine. May their heart ache be replaced in due time by only fine memories and continued respect for what the Marine Corps. stand for. And for what this Marine was willing to endure.
from the story:
“...”It’s powerful stuff,” said Baker’s father, Mark Baker.
“It was wonderful, everybody lining up on the street. Everyone (in the family) was moved,” he said. “The outpouring of love the community has shown and the prayers that have been given. ... We just ask that everyone continue to pray for our family.”
The sadness I feel right now doesn’t even come close to their grief. But I do understand the true meaning of what he said. Even in my sadness I look at that video and I am so proud of a community I have never visited, the selfless Freedom Riders and Patriot Guard Riders, the older gentleman in the red cap saluting the hearse, his family standing tall. But most of all I am proud of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. David Raymond Baker. I think of how proud he must be watching so many welcome him home.
I am proud of all who have answered a higher calling—those who know what “freedom is not free” means.
I’m just damned proud to be an American. Hear that Obama? Arrogant pride.
Kansas church to protest funeral of Afghanistan war casualty David Baker in Painesville
By Patrick O’Donnell, The Plain Dealer
October 28, 2009, 11:44PM
Painesville — Followers of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church plan to protest outside the funeral of Lance Corporal David Baker Saturday morning.
Baker, 22, of Painesville Township, was killed Oct. 20 while on patrol in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.
Shirley Phelps-Roper, one of the picket leaders for the Kansas church, said a team of seven to 10 protestors will follow state laws and not disrupt the service in their protest of this country’s tolerance of abortion, adultery and its participation in wars.
Protestors will set up at least a half-block from the Zion Lutheran Church on Mentor Avenue well before the 11 a.m. service, she said. They will sing songs and hold signs and depart before the service, she said.
She said following a plan that meets legal limits “makes things blessedly simple.”
Zion Pastor Jimmy Riley said he knows little about previous Westboro protests and hopes to keep the focus of Baker, who he said “loved his country, loved his family and loved his Lord.”
“I think there are better ways to show your Christian love and support than protesting at the funeral of a fellow Christian,” he said.
Teams from Westboro travel to schools or events that attract media attention to give what they call warnings of the imminent destruction of the country by their god because of immoral behavior.
After their protests started, Ohio lawmakers passed the “Let Them Rest in Peace Act” that provided a 300-foot zone around a funeral that protesters could not cross one hour before, during and one hour after the service. It also established a 300-foot “floating buffer” around a funeral procession.
A federal court judge removed the buffer from procession routes in 2007 after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on behalf of the church, claiming the ban violated protesters’ right to free speech.
That photo of the mother reaching out for her son breaks my heart.
The crackpots of Westboro will not have a chance to get near this family....every veterans group in the county is going to be there as well as the Patriot Guard Riders
An excerpt"Painesville — Followers of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church plan to protest outside the funeral of Lance Corporal David Baker Saturday morning."
It's probably a good thing (for me) that I'm not near there.
Patriots, PGR and Law Enforcement have their backs, it appears:
“Due to the large amount of people expected to be at the Church, Law Enforcement is restricting parking and access to the church area streets. You will be able to get to the church for staging and our Flag Line but you may have to park a distance away along a street or parking area, they may be busing people to the church. Staging is at 10:00 am but be there earlier if possible as this is getting complex.”
http://www.patriotguard.org/ALLForums/tabid/61/forumid/11/postid/1261472/view/topic/Default.aspx
I pray not for this MARINE, but for his friends & family who will miss him terribly. For this young MARINE is already standing his post in Heaven with all of the MARINES who have gone before him.
Ping
Thanks Pontiac.. I was just checking YOUR posts to find the thread and here was one to me!
I will post the pix/Facebook link here with a link on the state thread & let Dave ping the Ohio list.
Good seeing you again FRiend.. Mexican was outstanding..
Here are my pix on Facebook. (you do not have to be a member to see these pix)
Here is a pix of Pontiac & DollyCal
and another pix of Pontiac on the curb
There are a number of pics in your album where you must have just missed me. I was standing on the lawn side of the sidewalk watching the Honor Guard unload the casket through the windows of the SUV.
Sorry I did not see you or meet Pontiac.
You and Pontiac look MARVELOUS.
God bless Cpl. David Raymond Baker and his family and friends.
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