It was hundreds of miles for me, so I didn’t travel south for the airport escort Friday. I wish I had photos of that. I wish I had more photos of the wake and funeral I would witness. I wish every American who did not attend the funeral of Sergeant Ken Nichols would view many photographs of those events and think about him.

Because his was not just a job.

I was 35 miles from my destination when I passed through Milford. Like many small towns, they have posted individual tributes to their sons who are away in service. In Milford they are painted wooden plagues attached to utility poles.

I reached the wake site early so I continued south to Georgetown where he attended high school. School was still in session, but the district would not use the high school on Monday so that it could be used for the funeral instead.

Georgetown is also home to the parents of Ken’s second wife. Her parents now have custody of Ken’s three children by his first wife. They were next in line, so they stepped forward. Mr. and Mrs. Burton must be wonderful people.

Georgetown was full of flags. Hundreds of them. I couldn’t photograph their effect because they were all over the place. These are a very few:

Central Wisconsin has Annette-the-dog-tag-lady and central Illinois has Larry-the-flag-guy. Larry Eckhardt of Little York rolled into town a few days earlier with a trailer-load of flags and a vision. The high school provided thirty helpers and a bus. They covered the main road for miles and then went up and down every side street.

Larry’s card says simply: “No Charge for Patriotic Displays”

No fees, no business checking account, no articles of incorporation. He just makes it happen.

His trailer echoes Eleanor Roosevelt’s wartime prayer that reminds us all to be worthy:

Dear Lord,

Lest I continue
My complacent way,
Help me to remember that somewhere,
Somehow out there
A man died for me today.
As long as there be war,
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?

Dave Switzer was a Ride Captain for Ken. Larry and Dave “remember that somewhere, somehow out there a man died for me today”.

Ken’s sister Cindy married George Guthrie and they live near Augusta, Georgia. George is a PGR Senior Ride Captain.

Minnesota had Paul Bunyan and Georgia has Big Red.

Larry and Ken place the “kneeling soldier” silhouette.

Symbols are helpful. They remind us of what unites us.

Another important symbol is the helmet/rifle/boots arrangement. In the two world wars, a soldier who falls would be marked by the front-line troops with a bayonet-tipped rifle pushed into the nearby ground. His helmet might be positioned atop to make it more visible for the graves detail to follow.

The fallen soldiers are now more promptly collected but the symbol lives on. That famous equipment arrangement is now used in the field to make a temporary memorial for fellow soldiers. Every FOB in Iraq and Afghanistan has featured such memorials. Only the dog tags draped from them change.

This funeral was closed-casket, as they sometimes must be. The helmet/rifle/boots were placed just before the guestbook at the entrance to the chapel where Ken lay. Tom and Tracy are taking their turns with Ken’s dog tags suspended between them.

I had met SSG Dustin Vaughn at a previous funeral. He was terribly injured a few years ago but he is still infantry as you can see by his blue cord. He is determined to become a Ranger. He was the escort for Ken.

The channel 15 videographer prepares.

Local media was cooperative and respectful.

Illinois Senior Ride Captain Glenn Poorman:

Georgia Senior Ride Captain George Guthrie:

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn:

The Illinois governor greeted each PGRider individually as he always does and then went inside where he humbled himself before the fallen hero. Then he went back outside where the hero’s family wished to express appreciation for the governor.

Sergeant Nichol’s father was a Marine, and also named Ken. So the oldest son is Kenneth III.

Here, Ken 3 directs the governor’s attention to a big red fire truck.

One day he will understand why the fire truck and the governor came to him that day.

And why so many people who were content to stay in the background couldn’t stay away.

In the following hours, a number of PGRiders from Georgia straggled in. We made sure they knew which end of the flagpole goes up (for the benefit of you Georgia fellows who didn’t make the trip, it’s the end with the flag on it) and placed them in line. They worked-out fine.

on to the next Nichols story segment

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