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Joys of soldier's 26 years recalled

At Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Fuerst's funeral, friends and his priest remember him as someone who loved his family and his mission.

By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published July 7, 2006

	[Times photo: Ken Helle]
	Tara Lee Fuerst, second from left, buried her husband, Staff Sgt. Joseph Frederick Fuerst III, along with his parents, center, and other family members Thursday at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
	Joseph Fuerst wanted to be a law enforcement officer when his hitch in the military was done.

TAMPA - Staff Sgt. Joseph Frederick Fuerst III called Chuck Paulk with a problem just days before his wedding.

"I don't know how to dance," he told Paulk, 53, of Tampa.

Paulk spent the three days before the ceremony teaching Fuerst and his soon-to-be-bride the two-step.

"I kept telling him to look at my eyes and not my shoes," Paulk said. "It was hard for him to do with his arms around me."

The newlyweds didn't miss a beat during their first dance, he said.

Thursday morning it was the movement of soldiers' marching feet that captured Paulk's attention, as they carried Fuerst's casket at Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in South Tampa.

The 26-year-old died June 24 of injuries from rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in an attack on his Humvee in Afghanistan's Panjway District. He would have celebrated a birthday in two weeks.

Fuerst's was the first of three funerals planned for Tampa soldiers who died within a week while fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan. Army Cpl. Aaron Griner, who grew up in Brandon, died June 28 in the deserts of Afghanistan. He was 24. Army Sgt. Bryan Luckey, 25, of Tampa, died June 29 in Iraq.

"I want the families to know how much this community appreciates the service of their sons and the sacrifices," said Mayor Pam Iorio, who attended the Mass.

Fuerst and his wife Tara, 22, were both deployed to Afghanistan last summer as part of the Florida Guard's 53rd Infantry Brigade. They met through the Guard and married in March 2005. She was in Afghanistan when news came of her husband's death.

Hundreds of mourners filled the pews in the sunlit church Thursday, and a hush settled on the crowd as the soldier's family entered the foyer, accompanied by the flag-draped coffin and a uniformed escort.

With military precision, the troops lifted and folded the American flag, and the family draped the coffin with a Catholic ceremonial funeral cloth.

Tears began to fall as Father Desmond Daly sprinkled holy water on the casket. The mourners sang How Great Thou Art as a Boy Scout troop led the processional into the church.

Addressing the gathered family and friends, Daly said Fuerst served as an altar boy at Christ the King when he was younger. He joked that the church had records of all the trouble Fuerst got into as a child.

"This is not any longer a man of faith," Daly said of Fuerst during his homily. "Now he sees with a view that is perfectly clear. He sees it all in perspective. We don't."

Sgt. Jorge Pozo served with Fuerst in Afghanistan during the past four months. He broke his right leg in the same firefight that ended Fuerst's life, he said.

"It's kind of hard to think it could have happened to you. It's just hard to believe," Pozo said.

He was carrying a fallen soldier out of a kill zone when he broke his leg, but kept running to get to safety, making the injury worse. He attended Fuerst's funeral on crutches.

"He loved his wife, and he loved what he was doing," Pozo said.

Fuerst joined the Army in 1998, after graduating from H.B. Plant High School. Paulk, the man who taught Fuerst to dance for his wedding, met him when Fuerst was a junior. Fuerst had gone to Paulk's home to cut his lawn. From that grew a friendship that lasted over the past 10 years.

They last spoke two months ago during an hourlong telephone conversation. Fuerst talked about the war, how frequently he saw his wife and joked about how Paulk could send him a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey without anyone noticing.

"He was a pretty simple guy," Paulk said. "You could always count on him to show up and buy the next round of drinks. Just showing up is what it's all about. He would do just that."

Fuerst and his wife had bought an acre in Brooksville where they planned to settle down and have children after he got out of the military in October, Paulk said. A police academy graduate, Fuerst had started applying for jobs as an officer.

"I don't look at this as a loss," Paulk said. "The 26 years he was here, it was a gift."

Before soldiers ushered the family outside as a soloist sang God Bless America, the priest placed his hands on Fuerst's casket for one final blessing.

"Joseph," Daly said. "May the angels lead you into paradise."

Kevin Graham can be reached at 813 226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 7, 2006, 01:05:00]