Today our small community came together to support the family of a fallen soldier. I will be posting a few photos I took as a part of the crowd, but first I have a few things to say. I have lived here since I was born in 1970 (minus the "college years") and I can say I have never seen anything like what I witnessed today. One newspaper reported around 1,000 people, most with American flags, lined the streets surrounding the building where the funeral service was held. I saw people I knew, and people I've never seen. I walked with my daughter who was holding our flag. I stood with family members who were holding a flag which draped the casket of our great uncle from years ago. After leaving the crowds, we drove toward our even smaller community where the burial was to be held, in the same tiny country cemetary where my beautiful grandmother was lain. The streets of our town were lined from the church building to the cemetary, over 8 miles, with people holding signs and flags. If you drove by and flashed your flag...honking, waving, yelling, cheering erupted. People I have never met smiled and waved for the simple reason of coming together for one purpose. (Wow, there is a heck of a "stand together" post in that comment, but I'll spare you for now)
At one point, I climbed to the top of a nearby building and just took it all in. As I stood there, tears stung my eyes. They were not because I knew Sgt. McCluskey, we'd never met, but instead I was thinking about his Mom, his loved ones, those who were hurting because of his loss. Can you imagine that pain?? I can't. I don't want to. But for them to emerge from that church building and see those 1,000 people, those hundreds of flags, hear the bells and prayers and cheers from the crowd, see the roads lined for miles, and read the THANK YOU signs, well, I cried. THIS, this support, this love, this unity...this was the finest example of goodness of heart. This is how all of our soldiers should be honored. This made me proud to be a part of this small town in southeast Oklahoma. God Bless You.
Now, I am going to write a few bland sentences about another reason our community came together, but not at length because it doesn't deserve the space. The WBC. The "church" in Kansas who protests soldiers funerals because they think God kills soldiers because He hates America because the USA has homosexuals. They were here. They never made it close enough to the family to even be a factor. They had trouble leaving town. They had trouble being served in restaurants. They were effectively "shut out" and "shut down". That is all. No more space is to be given to their disrespect.
So...I hope you enjoy the photos! I enjoyed being able to take them.
