These are soldiers.  Facing the camera we see four guys in T-shirts of four colors and all obviously athletic.  Garment bags contain ASUs, the Army Service Uniform.

The ACU (Army Combat Uniform) of digital camouflage (and predecessor BDU) has been worn in the Pentagon since 9/11 until this month to remind everyone that we are on a war footing.  Now the ASU is the uniform-of-the-day at the Pentagon.  In three months we will reach the 10-year anniversary of 9/11.  I don't know what the uniform change says about "war footing".

They traveled with their gear:  Seven rifles, a bugle and an ammo box.

PGRiders were arriving too.  Cars and trucks, trikes and bikes.  Mostly bikes.  A light rain was falling.

Staying dry was not the most important thing this morning. 

A rain-proofed sign defines a hero. 

"...something bigger than oneself." 

The good thing about Capitalism is that individuals, pursuing their self-interest, serve the good of all society.  The bad thing is that it can also rationalize narcissism.  I think many Americans can see no reason to risk a rainy day just to honor a soldier they have never met.  Those are the Americans who steer their children away from military service.

If they don’t want to risk getting wet, and they certainly don’t want to risk getting shot, or blown up.  To them, “Selfless service” only goes as far as a magnetic yellow ribbon on the rear of their car, and then only if their neighbors are doing it too.

That is why I had to smile when an entire family arrived carrying their own flags.

Remember the first weeks after 9/11?  The bumper stickers did not offer the simple declarative "We stand united."  Instead they extolled the defiant "United we stand!"  Flags were everywhere.

The problem with those little flags that you trap in the widow of your car is that the first time you absent-mindedly use the window button, Old Glory falls in the street.  And, of course, the whole reason you are in your car in the first place is because you are going someplace.  You don't want to get shot, you don't want to get wet and you don't want to be late for dinner.  After all, you didn't run over the flag -- that was the fault of the cars following you.

Sharon has a son who recovered a flag from the street in those first days after 9/11.  They have been recovering flags ever since.  Below she is holding a flag that belongs to Country Club Hills -- she lives in Tinley Park.  She didn't return it immediately so that she would be able to tell the municipal representatives how their flag was used while it was missing from their street light.  Maybe they will secure it better next time. 

After most of us had arrived, and before most of the guests had arrived, we were breifed.

The soldiers circled on their own.  T-shirts were gone.  Half had the new "Army Blue" ASU that is being phased-in and half wore the "Army Green" that is being phased-out.  They all looked like soldiers now.

Kathy went over to them and offered gratitude. 

From where we were positioned at the front of the funeral home we could see activity across the street. 

The ladder had been extended and lowered, so I went there. 

This versatile piece of equipment had a new use today.  It was to be te biggest flagpole.

The Patriot Flag is 30 feet by 56 feet.  It was 60 feet long but the fly edge was re-hemmed after being caught on many fire trucks during its tour of the 50 states.

In Illinois, we have Larry Eckhardt.  Until a year ago, southern California had Alex Kapitanski. 

A first-generation American, he quit high school to enlist in our army when WWII began. 

And now, the great flag that began its tour at Mr. Kapitanski's funeral flies over the funeral of another United States Army soldier. 

Illinois is the 40th state on the tour and the schedule was changed so that it could be displayed in Homer Glen. 

Joe Torrillo has been traveling with the flag.  He is number 344 of the 343. 

He was trapped in the rubble when the South Tower collapsed.  He was on a stretcher on a ferry when the North Tower fell and buried him again.

He rides the In Memory bike. 

He had fractured ribs, arms, back and skull.  He had borrowed another fireman's jacket and the stenciled name on it was McNamara.  For the three days he was unconscious, no one knew what happend to him.  Such was the chaos the day we got serious about Islamic terrorism.  So now Joe is doing what he can to make sure we remember.

And that is how the Patriot Flag came to fly over the Patriot Guard flags.

Mike (ASRC) was among those making the PGR presentation inside while most of us continued outside. 

The day had become quite pleasant. 

But instead of the pool or the park, 

we went to the funeral home. 

And then came our opportunity to file past the casket. 

in 1998, Pat Quinn invented the Tea Party.  (He urged citizens to mail then-governor Jim Thompson tea bags to protest a salary increase for state legislators.)  He has been Lieutenant Governor or Governor since 2002.  He has atended nearly every KIA funeral in this state during that time.

Major General Mark McDonald runs the Cadet Command for the army.  The ROTC programs his command produce 5,350 second lieutenants every year.

The governor and the general are here because some things cannot be delegated.

General McDonald would present folded flags to Michael's wife and to Michael's mother.

The governor presented his right hand to the PGRiders in attendence. 

And that is what a KIA funeral is.  We can't reverse what happened and it serves no useful purpose to regret it.  It is simply a time for reassurance.

We are all here to serve Michael's memory and the biggest part of that is reassuring his family that his life and his death were well spent.  The general, the governor and the PGRiders did not know Michael personally and will not miss him the way his wife or his mother will.  But we admire him.  And we hope that Michael's family will be reassured by our admiration. 

All the while, Staff Sergeant Yepes stood quietly nearby.  Each of the six bars on his sleeve represents a half-year under fire.  Today, he had one job to do and he was focused on his work.  The first casket flag covered the casket.  He held the second casket flag.  It was tightly folded and would be presented later at the cemetery.  But for now it was in his custody and he gave it his full attention.

The time had come.  John and Martin held their sign where the parking lot emptied into the street.

The movie Taking Chance describes the movement of Chance Phelps from the military mortuary in Dover AFB, Delaware to a cemetery in Dubois, Wyoming.  When the military escort receives his instructions he is told, "Whenever the casket is transfered between modes of transportation, you will render a salute."

The hearse was parked at the door of the funeral home.  We circled the hearse with our flags.  We stood.  Michael was moved from the building into the vehicle as we held a salute.

For me, one of the most powerful moments in that movie come when the horse-drawn caisson bearing the casket nears the cemetery.  Boy Scouts lined the road with 20 foot spacing holding flags.  The Dubois scouts did it for Chance Phelps in April, 2004 and they recreated that moment in the 2009 movie.

The New Lenox scouts did it again, near the funeral home.  And then, after the hundreds of vehicles passed, they hurried to another location near the cemetery and made their fierce display for Michael yet again.

I did not take photographs when I passed through the large groups because that would compromise my primary responsibility to honor Michael by carrying the flag just ahead of his hearse.  I did dare to get a few other photos, though.  They are here.

We were conducted directly to graveside at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, an unusual procedure.  The ceremony was purely military, and therefore crisp.  Three volleys, Taps, flag folding, flag presentations.

Two presentations.  One came from the casket and SSG Yepes was at last relieved of the other.

The many guests were invited to file past the casket and leave so that the family could have one last private moment.  We held our Circle of Comfort until the last guest had passed by Michael's casket and then we followed them across the field.

The field of grave markers was treeless and we could see the family standing near the casket, but we didn't watch.  Our part was done.

A few days after Michaels burial, two USA Special Forces soldiers received Silver Stars and a soldier from the Rockford area died.  Maybe we will pull out of Iraq this year and maybe we will pull out of Afghanistan over the next three years.  Maybe our three-month excursion into Libya will end too.  Maybe our sun will supernova and none of this will matter.

But most likely, the civilians designated by our democratic process to set national foreign policy will continue to use our military as the will our our nation demands, and soldiers like Michael Olivieri will continue to follow orders without question.  And we will return to the funeral homes and the cemeteries as many times as we are invited. 

Because there are just not very many Americans who can be good soldiers like Michael.

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