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A final salute for the young GI

At the service for Sgt. Dennis J. Flanagan, 22, , it is said: "He was a poet, an athlete and a good person."

By BRIAN SUMERS
Published January 28, 2006

[Times photos: Stephen J. Coddington]

Standing before the flag-draped casket of their son, Patricia Flanagan looks to the sky as her husband, Dennis, bows his head in prayer during a memorial service Friday for Sgt. Dennis J. Flanagan at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Citrus Springs. The 2001 Lecanto High graduate is to be buried Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery.

	A military honor guard from the 101st Airborne Division carries Flanagan's coffin out of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church on Friday. The soldier was killed Jan. 20 along with three others when a roadside bomb blew up their vehicle in Hawijah, Iraq.
	Vietnam veteran Ron Smith, front left, and Doug Hancock, front right, lead the other Patriot Riders in paying their respects to Sgt. Dennis J. Flanagan on Friday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Citrus Springs. The Patriot Riders are a group of motorcyclists who travel the country supporting fallen soldiers' families. They also shield family members from protesters who might try to disrupt services. "We're the main line of defense between the family and the protesters," Smith said. "We're here to make sure they get the respect that they deserve."

CITRUS SPRINGS - How can you honor the life of a soldier killed in the line of duty?

For the Flanagan family, the answer was simple: in poetry, in song, in faith and in tears.

There was plenty of each Friday morning as parents Patricia and Dennis Flanagan, along with their family and friends and community members, bid goodbye to Sgt. Dennis J. Flanagan, 22, who was killed last week in Hawijah, Iraq.

They gathered solemnly, clutching tissues they took at the door, inside St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church for a 90-minute service. Some cried even before the Rev. Eric Peters took the lectern, which was framed by a red, white and blue floral heart and a floral cross.

Mourners learned Flanagan was an avid poet who crafted compositions while attending Lecanto High School.

After six members of the 101st Airborne Division carried the flag-draped casket into the sanctuary and Peters led a prayer, three uncles read Flanagan's work.

One poem, written when he was 15, appeared to foreshadow the possibility of Flanagan's death.

"And now, my son, I pray to thee," read Woody Ayres, Flanagan's maternal uncle. "Never ever forget me; that I died a soldier's death, to keep you free with my last breath."

The words continued to move Ayres as he stood in the church's courtyard after the service.

Some suggest Flanagan wrote the poem to share with the son he never had, Ayres said, but he thinks it carries a deeper meaning.

"It is prophetic, but it also has a message to keep going," he said. "We should look at everything we have and never forget."

No family member gave a eulogy, though friends and family offered prayer from the lectern and a military officer read a proclamation from state Sen. Nancy Argenziano.

Wearing her crisp, green Florida National Guard uniform, Flanagan's sister, Marissa Balderas, sang the Irish lullaby Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra as she smiled and waved her hands, asking mourners to join.

After the church service, the casket was met by visitors in a courtyard, where an Air Force chaplain offered prayer. Then, in military tradition, a bugler played taps as soldiers fired a final salute.

A soldier gave a folded flag to Patricia Flanagan, whose eyes filled with tears as the service ended. As she mourned, a line approached the family to offer condolences.

Four members of Dennis Flanagan's original platoon spoke briefly with his parents. Each served with Flanagan during his first tour of duty, which coincided with the 2003 Iraqi invasion.

The soldiers - Sgt. Derek Baxter, Staff Sgt. Luis Matias, Staff Sgt. Sean Kirchner and Staff Sgt. Michael Hack - served in the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

Their platoon called themselves the "Death Dealers." They were like brothers.

"It was saying goodbye to a friend, a comrade," Baxter said.

Neither Baxter nor the others knew of Flanagan's poetic talent, though they liked what they heard.

"I think they were very good," said Kirchner, tightly clenching a tissue in his left hand. "He had a good mind."

Their old friend will receive one more goodbye.

Flanagan will be honored Tuesday when his body reaches Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C., his final resting place.

Peters said he hoped Flanagan will be remembered fondly forever.

"He was a poet, an athlete and a good person," Peters said.

As he said it, Peters' eyes watered, but he kept speaking without dabbing at his face.

[Last modified January 28, 2006, 01:38:21]