A proper salute

Published 10:07 am Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Sgt. David Weir was buried on Monday in Cleveland, Tenn. Sgt. Weir, 23, was killed in combat in Iraq on Sept. 13. His funeral was attended by hundreds of family members and friends who wished to pay their respects to the slain soldier.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., — a group which conducts anti-abortion rallies at soldiers’ funerals — were either not in attendance or were “lost in the crowd.”

That’s a blessing.

Many feared the Westboro Baptist group would mar Monday’s solemn ceremony and worsen the suffering for a family already grieving the tragic loss of a loved one. That would be unforgivable.

The ploy of using soldiers’ funerals as an opportunity to spread their message on abortion is a vile tactic. It speaks volumes about the phony righteousness of the Westboro Baptist Church crowd.

On Monday, the burial of Sgt. David Weir was not soiled by the antics of a handful of loathsome idiots. The focus was where it should be — on a soldier who died in the service of his country.



The Daily Citizen