I have just one thing to say:
Some people deserve a full-on ass kicking. Would anyone have any problem with any of these sick-fuck protestestors falling off a cliff?


Ogden soldier remembered
JENNIFER JACOBS and JARED STRONG
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

April 18, 2006

Ogden, Ia. – Daniel L. Sesker took the job of being lead gunner with his unit in Iraq because he "wanted to be upfront'' a friend told more than 1,000 family, friends, soldiers and neighbors gathered this morning at his funeral in the high school gymnasium.

Sesker, a 22-year-old Iowa Army National Guard sergeant, was killed about 30 miles northwest of Tikrit, Iraq, when a roadside bomb exploded near his truck earlier this month. He was the 36th Iowan to die in combat in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Two of Sesker's best friends, Sgt. David Bollenbaugh and Spc. Shane Sinn, who were serving with him in Iraq attended this morning's funeral. They told mourners that Sesker sought out the assignment of lead gunner because he thought of himself as a protector and guardian.

After the 90-minute service, family attended a private burial in nearby Boone. The procession was escorted by about 70 members of the Patriot Guard, an organization recently formed by veterans’ motorcycle groups and motorcycle enthusiasts to show respect for service members and offer protection for mourning families.

Prior to this morning's funeral, a group of nine demonstrators stood in plain view of arriving mourners 530-feet away, across the street from the high school. The three teenage women, four adult women, one adult male and one young boy left their spot on the windswept road without incident at 10:04, or four minutes after the scheduled beginning of Sesker's funeral.

Displaying placards that declared, "You're Going To Hell,'' "Fag Vets,'' and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers,'' the group was far enough away to be in compliance with legislation enacted Monday outlawing protests near funerals in Iowa.

Gov. Tom Vilsack, traveling in the Middle East, signed the bill into law Monday afternoon. It's the first time that he has enacted legislation while not in the country. The new law bans disorderly conduct, such as abusive language or disruptive behavior, within 500 feet of a funeral, memorial service, funeral procession or burial.

Ogden Police Chief Mick Bailey said he had planned to put the protesters on the spot 530-feet away from the high school even before Vilsack signed the law.

Protesters at this morning's funeral said they were members of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. Members began protesting at soldiers’ funerals in June, claiming that God is killing the soldiers because the United States and U.S. military condone homosexuality.Members of the Patriot Guard help provide a human barrier at funerals to protect mourners from hearing and seeing the protesters, if needed.

Keith Callaway of Glenwood, captain of the Iowa Patriot Guard, said they had asked permission of Sesker's family to attend today's funeral.

Callaway said even though the Patriot Guard offers to provide a human barrier to protesters, they do not seek confrontation.

"What I tell my people to do is turn their back to them so we don't even acknowledge their existence,'' Callaway said of the protesters. "Anyone that comes to a place like this with hate-filled messages doesn't even deserve to be recognized."

__________________
CK

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"Sometimes you just have to say, what the fuck." - Tom Cruise in Risky Business

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