Veterans salute Army Pfc.'s casket carried in his pickup truck

[partylessinOhio]

Veterans salute as the casket bearing the remains of Army Pfc. Nicholas Cournoyer enters the cemetery on his pickup truck Monday, May 29, 2006 in Laconia, N.H. Cournoyer, 25, was killed May 18, 2006, in an explosion near Baghdad.



How many more will die for the Coward in the White House?

[eleny]

1. Thank you

:cry:

[partylessinOhio]

2. You're welcome.

Veterans salute as the body of Army Pfc. Nicholas Cournoyer is carried by family and friends, Monday May 29, 2006 in Laconia, N.H. Cournoyer, 25, was killed May 18, 2006 near Baghdad by an explosion.

N.H. soldier buried on Memorial Day

By David Tirrell-Wysocki, Associated Press Writer | May 29, 2006

LACONIA, N.H. --There were two Memorial Day parades in Laconia on Monday. One featured marching bands as a tribute to America's war dead. The second featured a shiny white pickup carrying the flag-draped casket of one of the latest Americans killed at war: Army Pfc. Nicholas Cournoyer.

The traditional parade marched a block away from St. Joseph Church, where the organist played, "Let There Be Peace on Earth" and mourners heard the 25-year-old from Gilmanton remembered as a tough soldier with a soft heart.

"He would be talking about taking it to our enemy, and whooping some ass, and then there would be little puppy on the side of the road and he would say, 'Ahh. Look at the little puppy,' in his deep voice," wrote Cournoyer's sergeant and squad leader, Ryan O'Connor.

Cournoyer's friend Tom Noe read O'Connor's message at the Mass, in which O'Connor wrote of the roadside bomb blast May 18 that killed Cournoyer, three other soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter and brought members of their 10th Mountain Division to tears.

Father Gary Kosmowski noted that enlisting in the army during a troublesome time, as Cournoyer did, is unsettling "because you just never know who will have to pay the ultimate price for freedom.

"All give some and some give all, and Nick, along with 11 others from our Granite State, gave all to Operation Iraqi Freedom," said Kosmowski.

The irony of having to eulogize a fallen soldier on Memorial Day, the holiday reserved to remember fallen soldiers, was not lost on Kosmowski.

"Today, we commemorate those men and woman who died in military service for this great land of ours," he said.

"Nick will be listed among those who we commemorate on this day."

Cournoyer's family didn't schedule the service on Memorial Day for symbolic reasons. It was the earliest day they could arrange for the service.

But their loss heightened the meaning of the day.

"It's more important than ever for all of us to honor our soldiers, and not just the retired veterans, but the guys that are there fighting for us right now," Cournoyer's sister, Natalie, said during the weekend.

As a further tribute, the family asks area residents to donate items to be sent to Cournoyer's unit, which will be in Iraq until August.

Cournoyer graduated from Gilford High School in 2000 and worked as a mason's assistant after graduation. In his high school yearbook, he listed joining the military as one of his goals. He enlisted in January 2005.

Gov. John Lynch, Sen. Judd Gregg and Rep. Jeb Bradley were among the mourners Monday, as were nearly 100 motorcyclists, many of them veterans. Organized by a group called the Patriot Guard Patrol, many carried American flags as they lined the street outside the church and at the Bayside Cemetery as an honor guard. Their motorcycles led the funeral procession.

Cournoyer's sister drove the pickup carrying her brother's coffin to the cemetery.

"He was very proud of it," Noe said of the truck. "He had just paid it off.

Part of the route was the same covered an hour earlier by the traditional parade.

At the gravesite, soldiers folded the flag that covered Cournoyer's coffin and gave it to his mother, who hugged it tightly as her husband received their son's military medals.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/05/29/nh_soldier_buried_on_memorial_day/

Follow the link for address to send donations.

(I know there is a four paragraph rule but to remember this fallen soldier who just paid off his truck, I copied more of his story for Memorial Day.)

[Totally Committed]

3. My most heartfelt condolences to his family at this time....

and shame forever on George W. Bush for this senseless, illegal, and immoral war.

Remembering everyond who served inthe armed forces today, and sending out a silent 'thank you' to all. I am just moved to tears.


TC

[PuraVidaDreamin]

4. That truck was probably his pride & joy

I despise these murdering war profiteers!

[janx]

6. Definitely! For such a young man, it's a very nice truck.

I'd love to have one like that. God nurture his soul.

[partylessinOhio]

5. The names of the four soldiers killed in their Humvee on May 18.

Sgt. Lonnie C. Allen Jr. 26 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Bellevue, Nebraska One of four soldiers killed when a roadside bomb detonated near their Humvee during combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 18, 2006



Pfc. Nicholas R. Cournoyer 25 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Gilmanton, New Hampshire One of four soldiers killed when a roadside bomb detonated near their Humvee during combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 18, 2006



Lt. Col. Daniel E. Holland 43 352nd Civil Affairs Command San Antonio, Texas One of four soldiers killed when a roadside bomb detonated near their Humvee during combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 18, 2006



1st. Lt. Robert A. Seidel III 23 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Gettysburg, Pennsylvania One of four soldiers killed when a roadside bomb detonated near their Humvee during combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 18, 2006


May they and the others who have died for the Bush lies rest in peace.

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. Rest In Peace, Mr. Cournoyer. We will not rest until GW Bush

is held accountable .

[Pacifist Patriot]

8. He's not a coward.

He's a fucking greedy evil son-of-a-bitch asshole dickwad coward.

[JNelson6563]

9. You shouldn't repress feelings like that

speak your mind! :toast:

[michreject]

10. Those are not just soldiers

They are the Patriot Guard. They are there to shield the family from the likes of Phelps from interrupting the funeral.

I ride with them in Michigan.