Replies to post #62337 on Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[Rick Faurot]

Vet Who Survived Vietnam Buries Son Killed in Iraq
Mon Aug 30, 2004 07:26 PM ET
Printer Friendly / Email Article / Reprints / RSS (Page 1 of 2)
Top News
Republicans Salute Bush in Convention Opener
Iraqi Cleric Calls Cease-fire After Bloody Uprising
U.S. Guard 'Stomped on Fingers' in Iraq Jail


MORE

By Adam Tanner
BOISE, Idaho (Reuters) - Tom Titus experienced the shock of watching his best friend die in his arms during the Vietnam War in 1971.

On Monday, the ex-Army Ranger felt the even greater horror of burying his only son Brandon, 20, killed on Aug. 17 by an explosion while patrolling a Baghdad slum.

Idaho's governor, a 1960s rock and roll star, grieving relatives and leather-clad Vietnam War veterans attended the funeral at a modern church before Pfc. Titus, who served as a gunner on a Humvee, became the first person buried in the new Idaho State Veterans Cemetery.

Such a scene of grief has played out nearly 1,000 times since the United States invaded Iraq last year. Yet Americans rarely hear much about their fallen soldiers, who typically appear as a name or photo in the growing list of the dead.

The story of Brandon Titus is especially poignant because of his father's public anguish and an eloquent note the soldier left behind in the case of his death.

"You wanted me to be proud of you," an emotional Tom Titus, wearing his medals on his vest, said in his eulogy. "I just want to say to my child that this is the proudest dad in the whole world."

Tom Titus barely made it out of Vietnam alive after being wounded twice. In a 1971 incident, a mortar round in the jungle left the decorated soldier without sight in one eye. It took six months in a hospital to reconstruct his face.

Many of his "brothers in arms" wore leather biker jackets to Monday's funeral and more than 100 motorcycles rode in the procession.

Paul Revere, lead singer of the 1960s rock band Paul Revere and the Raiders, gave a eulogy and a member of his band sang a song in the service that had Tom Titus sobbing behind his hands. "If you ever think of me, think of all your liberties and recall, some gave it all," sang Omar Martinez.