A Soldier's Perspective

Marcus 1LT Kile West, Fallen Hero

Miss Ladybug, one of the readers here at ASP with her own blog, wrote of the funeral of one of our finest. God bless you, 1LT West.

As luck would have it, the date the family selected for Kile's funeral (6/9 – for his unit, the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment) was a day I was not scheduled to work, and I had no other obligations. So, I got up early (especially for a Saturday), and headed out for Lifeway Fellowship Church in Killeen. The church isn't far off from Highway 190. When I got to Elms Road and turned right, what caught my eye was the at least 50 American flags blowing in the breeze in front of the church. The Patriot Guard Riders were already on duty, and the service was still 30 minutes away. Not wanting to intrude on friends and family, I sat in my car, working on my project for AnySoldier.com, for about 20 minutes before going in. I figured since I wasn't family and hadn't known Kile, I should hang back and let those who knew Kile have whatever seating was available – the parking lot wasn't completely full when I had arrived, but there were still lots of cars.

The church was filled to capacity. They had already set up folding chairs just inside the sanctuary doors. From the back, I could see the flag-draped casket and some of the floral arrangements, which included a white State of Texas with a Cav patch about where Fort Hood would be on the map. I noticed Kile's Class A uniform jacket was on display, as well as photos of Kile. Just prior to the service beginning, they set up a few more chairs just outside the sanctuary doors and I was invited to take a seat.

Read the rest at Miss Ladybug's place.