By Eric Reinagel
5/13/06
May 13, 2006 12:19 am
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JAMESTOWN — Flags and tears lined the streets of Jamestown Friday afternoon. They guided Staff Sgt. David Veverka’s body to Randall Funeral Home.
David was severely injured in Iraq May 6 after a roadside blast tore through his convoy. He died a few hours later in a military hospital near Baghdad.
Jamestown is a borough of nearly 1,200 people, and about half the town was on hand to pay their respects to David on Friday. Jamestown schools let out early so children could be present when a police escort led the hearse to the funeral home.
Not since Vietnam has Jamestown seen a serviceman killed. David was 25.
“I give him a huge amount of credit for the sacrifice he’s made for the rest of us, but the kind of kid he was in school, it doesn’t surprise me that he was willing to do this,” said David’s boyhood teacher, Robin Sasse. “(David was) one of the better students I’ve ever seen, ever had privilege of coming through Jamestown, very conscientious, played basketball with a passion, took time for everybody, was kind to everybody, but so much fun to be around,” she said. “Just a great guy all around, the whole family actually, it’s a great family. Very large family, very tight-night and it’s been nice to see how everyone has really rallied around them.”
Sasse said the atmosphere at school has been difficult this week because many of David’s relatives are school employees. There are also many employees who either taught David or graduated with him.
“It’s been nice in one way in that we’ve seen the town come together,” said Sasse. “It’s been kind of drawn out. This happened on Saturday. It’s almost a week later. People need some finality and this (event) at least helps to get that process started, rather than being in limbo.”
“You’ve got to understand this kid was one of our bright kids in town,” said Veterans of Foreign War 5424 Post Commander Jim Young.
David won the Voices of Democracy contest sponsored by the post and his speech/essay eventually was entered in the state-level competition. The 1999 graduate of Jamestown High joined the Army as a way to help pay for college. Veverka was eight credits shy of his bachelor’s degree in wildlife ecology at the University of Maine in Bangor.
Two Jamestown men serving in the National Guard set to be shipped off to Iraq July 17, saluted David’s body as it passed.
“It feels like I lost a family member,” said 18-year-old Pvt. Danny Kuesis. “This feels like I knew him my whole life. It’s amazingly difficult.”
They both said that it’s important for them to stay focused on their mission, “doing what we feel is needed to support our family, to support their rights,” said 17-year-old Pvt. Rodney Harsh. “Our forefathers fought for our country, I feel it’s our right to stand up for it, too.”
The support shown Friday is typical of Jamestown, said Patricia Potter, an officer with VFW Post 5424.
“They automatically turn out by the hundreds to show their approval for any of the Jamestown kids who have served in the military and to any of the kids who go out of their way to make a difference in the world,” said Potter, a Navy nurse during Vietnam. “I think this is something we just automatically do for someone who has served our country and, in particular, such a young kid who went to do his duty. Unfortu-nately, we lose a lot of them, the same as when I was in Vietnam. We lost so many. This is the least you can do to show your gratitude.”
“He was an outstanding young man. He was definitely an asset to his community as well as his family,” she said.
Calling hours will be Monday from noon to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. at Randall Funeral Home, 416 Liberty St., Jamestown.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.
Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery and will be followed with a 21-gun salute.
Donations may be made to the David Michael Veverka Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o First National Bank, PO Box 246, Jamestown, Pa. 16134.
Eric Reinagel can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at ereinagel@meadvilletribune.com
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Photos
The body of Sgt. David Veverka is carried into the Randall Funeral Home in Jamestown on Friday. RICHARD SAYER/Meadville Tribune