Arlington, Va. — The plain white tombstones look like an army of soldiers in parade formation.
Row upon row, they blur into each other, the names cut into them barely visible in the Wednesday morning sunshine at Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery.
There wasn’t yet a marker at gravesite 8330 in section 60, but the cars and pickups with Pennsylvania license plates that lined the road next to the grave helped to identify its occupant.
Staff Sgt. David Michael Veverka, 25, of Jamestown, is now in a place 500 times the size of his hometown. More than 300,000 are buried here and Sgt. Veverka is the 231st person killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom to be interred at Arlington.
He was given a hero’s welcome into the hallowed ground as hundreds of mourners from Jamestown made the trip to attend the funeral. They watched as he was laid to rest in the place he once watched over. They cried and hugged as Army Chaplain Maj. Gary Studniewski led the graveside rite.
The pallbearers in their dress uniforms stood stoically alongside the coffin before they folded the flag that had been draped over it, then were quiet as Maj. Gen. John Libby presented it to Carol Polley, Sgt. Veverka’s mom; another perfectly folded flag was presented to his dad, Ronald Veverka of Sharon.
They were also presented with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart that Sgt. Veverka earned while serving in Iraq as part of the Maine National Guard.
The 21-gun salute echoed across the hillside, as did the mournful notes of “Taps,” played by a lone bugler.
It was the end to a life cut short May 6 when a roadside bomb exploded in Iraq.
Sgt. Veverka died a hero, his comrades have said. He pulled a fellow soldier down into the cover of the truck they were in just before the blast, saving the man’s life.
Sgt. Veverka was eight credits shy of a bachelor’s degree in wildlife ecology at the University of Maine, Bangor. Last week the college posthumously awarded him the degree.
He joined the Army after he graduated from Jamestown High in 1999 where he was an honor student and star basketball player.
His family said he enlisted to help pay for college. In the Army, he was chosen to be a member of the elite Old Guard that stands watch over Arlington. He served there for three years before enrolling at the University of Maine and enlisting in the National Guard there. He was deployed to Iraq in January and sent to the Middle East in March.
Wednesday, in his honor, Gov. Ed Rendell ordered flags to be flown at half staff on state office buildings in Mercer County and in the Capitol Complex, Harrisburg. Flags also were lowered in Maine.
Carol Polley described her son as someone “who excelled, no matter what he did.”
“He was such a kid to be proud of,” his father said. “He was always the best.”
Sgt. Veverka’s death came the day before the anniversary of the death of the first Mercer County serviceman in Iraq. Marine Sgt. Michael A. Marzano of Greenville was killed May 7, 2005. Army Reserve Pfc. Douglas Edward Kashmer, who had ties to Sharon and Reynolds, died June 8, 2005. Army National Guard Sgt. Shawn Graham was a Grove City native who died Sept. 25, 2005. Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin of East Lackawannock Township, a National Guardsman, was killed Jan. 6.
The David Veverka Memorial Fund has been established to honor him. It will fund a scholarship for a college-bound student at Jamestown High. Contributions can be made at the Jamestown branch of First National Bank of Pennsylvania.
Homepage
Related Photos
At Arlington, 'Taps' played for Veverka, Jamestown's fallen hero
Local soldier laid to rest in hero's grave
- Local News
-
-
Career paths so near yet so far apart
The subjects Rita McVey and Bonnie Sich teach have been on very different trajectories of societal favor during the course of their careers.
Continued ... -
Officials seek public input
The time is now for Shenango Township residents to voice their opinions about the future of the township’s sewage system.
Continued ... -
A breed apart
It took quite a bit of coaxing from her human friends, but Dottie the English bulldog eventually jumped through the hoop in the obstacle course.
Continued ...
-
Career paths so near yet so far apart
- Sports
-
-
Petty an all-around great athlete in track and gymnastics
Greenville's Rebekah Petty clears the bar during the pole vault competition Saturday at the District 10 Class AA Track & Field Championships.
When Mercer County’s contingent convenes at the annual PIAA Track & Field Championships this weekend, it will be well represented
Continued ...
Clay Allen, Matt Bell, John Yohman, Johnathan Jacoway, Jeremy Jansco, Nico Zahniser, DeShawn Coleman, Dan Jaskowak, et all, should haul home some hardware. But with all due respect, the aforementioned young men may or may not be best athletes in the area’s aggregation that will assemble this weekend at Shippensburg University. -
Lubarski, Richards, Petty, Allen shine at D-10 Track Championships; Hickory girls, WM boys team champs
Hickory High’s high-jump state champion Lauren Lubarski suffered a severe blow to open her competion at the annual District 10 Class AA Track & Field Championships Saturday at Hickory HIgh Stadium.
Continued ...
She failed to qualify for state in the event she had won the previous year. -
Baseball, softball D-10 playoff pairings
The District 10 pairings for the baseball and softball playoffs have been released. Five area baseball teams and four (possibly 5) softball squads have qualified.
Continued ...
-
-
-
Photo tribute: 100 years of baseball at Fenway Park
This year Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, celebrates its 100th anniversary as America's oldest Major League stadium -- and the setting for some of baseball's greatest players, historic wins and crushing losses. That sacred magic is captured in two exhibits at the 20-year-old Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, a Boston suburb.
- Son recalls his mother's anguish over those not rescued
- SLIDESHOW: Cruises commemorate Titanic voyage
- Language was a barrier for immigrant on sinking Titanic
- 100 years later, Titanic-like disaster remains a risk
-
- Digital Edition Login
- Weather Radar
