On Saturday, 2/10, Illinois Senator and Declared Presidential Candidate (for the election to be held 21 months from now) said, “We now have spent $400 billion and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted.”

Wasted, Senator?

Also on Saturday Kevin had his first shower. He has had baths for all his 4 years, but he told me that he once got soapy water in his eyes when his mommy was washing his hair. That is why he didn’t want to try showering.

I insisted. I explained how he could turn his back to the falling water, how he could move away from it, how to hold onto the grab bar. I explained how the warm water hitting his back was like a massage. He came around.

The next day, Sunday, we planned to travel to Wheaton to join “the boys holding flags.” I knew that he would be both cold and “bored” quickly, so I expected that we would leave shortly after I took portraits of the flag line. This would be Kevin’s fifth mission, but only for the Robert Paul funeral did he stay the whole time. He asked if he could have another shower when we returned.

The highly anticipated shower was all we talked about on the drive to Wheaton. It was all we talked about after we arrived in Wheaton and waited with the others. It was nearly all we whispered about in the flag line.

That was true, even though he was decorated. Kevin was issued a “mission accomplished” tag, and no, not by me. We were adjusting our coats when Greg Bowman came over to us. “I grabbed a couple of these before I left this morning…”

It is legitimate and meaningful to self-award these tags, as many of us do. It is a whole other thing to receive one from another.

Thanks, Greg. Sorry his thoughts were overshadowed by the shower he would take later that afternoon. I will be sure he understands how important it is. And I assure you that he already knows enough to take issue with Senator Obama.

For myself, I don’t wear mission pins or armbands. Others were suiting-up as well and the armbands seemed to be difficult to don.

I like the appearance and functionality of them, but I guess they are just not my style.

So it seems I saved myself some hassle. There was no briefing, which was disappointing. We left after 30 minutes – 5.5 hours early. I got the portraits – it was a dismal day, but dismal days provide the best light for photography.

Monday was the actual funeral. Kevin was in pre-school. I managed to find East Loop Road well in advance of the staging start time. But, even though the road is very short, I didn’t find the church for 20 minutes. Not till I looked for it on West Loop Road.

The forum notes offered it both ways, but they are not really interchangeable. So I wasn’t the first to arrive this time. As I looked around at those who preceded me I noticed that several of us had printed a picture of our fallen hero and were wearing it on our vests.

The first time I had seen this done was a Galesburg mission run by Chris Brocksmith nearly a year ago. He had printed hundreds so that everyone could wear one. I remember him and a succession of others standing on the bed of a pickup addressing the hundreds of us in the Wal-Mart parking lot. We listened to speeches and poetry. We sang and prayed. We were motivated.

The Monday Ride Captain, Al Conradt, did a fine briefing. And (Happy Surprise!) Chris had come the 360 miles to join us.

And then, another uncommon speaker at our briefing: Deputy Chief Tom Meloni. A year ago, Chris was explaining to cops that we are not “counter-protestors.” Was D.C. Meloni going to tell us what we could and could not do in his town? No. He wanted only to express appreciation. Chris must have been proud.

Two days earlier (the day of the Obama statement and Kevin’s first shower) the Daily Herald ran a story headlined “Wheaton promises smooth burial for soldier” that quoted the Deputy Chief saying, “We’re not going to allow any interference with the funeral or family in mourning out of respect for the sacrifice that young man made.”

We have gotten away from it, but that is exactly the spirit that inspired the founding of the Patriot Guard Riders 16 months ago. And because that same spirit is reflected in the following photograph, I publish it in possible violation of our photo policy.

And then we formed-up. The light wasn’t as good as the day before and I think a flash is too intrusive, so the photography suffered especially near the door in the shadow of the roof. There were a lot of guests, including a lot of uniformed soldiers, including a Major-General. After the service began Meloni’s boss, Wheaton Police Chief Mark Field, wanted to give us his thanks.

We then furled our flags and retreated to the parking lot. Later, half of us would return to the church entrance for the transfer of the casket to the hearse. The other half would go to the cemetery in advance of the procession so they would be in position to welcome Kevin Landeck to his final resting place when he arrived. R.I.P., soldier.

pictures of the Sunday visitation

pictures of the Monday funeral