Jesse's home is a 3.5 hours drive from my home.  I had heard about Lou & Kelli at New Diggin's and left a phone message saying I was coming.  Lou called me back the day of the airport escort to say I was welcome.  I asked if I could give him a credit card over the phone.

"We are about to leave the airport now.  Just come on and we'll take care of you."

I had come to the right place.

Thursday when I passed through New Diggin's on my way to Hazel Green I saw their 168 year-old building.  The bar, pizza and pool table are downstairs; four rooms are upstairs.  Nobody was home.

A few miles later I was parked near the Catholic Church that would be the center of activity for these two days.  As I walked toward the adjacent cemetery I found the army leadership had jsut finished their review. 

The honor guard was still on the scene, though. 

When I returned to the PGR parking area I found the two assiting RCs waiting:

Jim (Iowa) and Sam (Illinois).

RCIC John (Wisconsin) was posting the colors. 

And a half-dozen troops. 

"No talking", pledge & prayer, then we moved.

Brigadier General Thomas A. Harvey would present a folded to Jesse's widow tomorrow.

Today he posed breifly for me. 

Visitations are simple.  Find a flag.  Find a place.  Stand there for five hours. 

Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the help of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (Heorot) has been under attack by a being known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland in Sweden and later becomes king of the Geats.

After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants bury him in a tumulus in Geatland.

Jesse played on several teams.  The firemen all wore matching dark shirts with their DUI embroidered over their hearts. 

And Jesse's nephew took a place in our flagline. 

So I took a few pictures, but I spent most of the day in the flagline.

Then I went back to New Diggin's and had a pizza and beers downstairs, and a good rest upstairs.

on to Friday

back to the Grindey Mission