This was an especially tough story to report as the Landeck family was not providing any interviews to our paper, and they asked us not to come inside the church. The alternative was going to the actual grave and trying to paint a picture, which is what we decided to do.
Pride, patriotism, grief Police, veterans join in honoring Army captain after protests don't materialize
February 13 2007
James Fuller Daily Herald Staff Writer
The red, white and blue of military service mingled with the black and gray tones of mourning Monday as family and friends gathered to bury Capt. Kevin Landeck.
The Wheaton soldier died Feb. 2 while serving in Iraq after an improvised explosive device tore through his military Humvee.
Wheaton police turned out in large force at St. Daniel the Prophet Church to address a planned protest of Landeck's services by the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church. The congregation travels the country protesting military funerals because they believe the troops fight for a nation that condones homosexuality.
The protest never materialized. Church leaders contacted in Kansas said they diverted their attentions to another funeral for a soldier in Montana.
The threat served to increase the level of patriotism at both the church and gravesite as veterans throughout the area turned out in anticipation of the protest and to show support for the Landeck family.
About 30 flags and even more salutes ushered Landeck's casket into the church. His family requested that media not enter the church.
After the services, Landeck's procession drove past Whittier Elementary School, which he once attended and with whose students he corresponded while in Iraq. Students gathered outside to wave and pay their respects to the soldier they considered a local hero.
Loved ones, including Landeck's parents, Richard and Vicki, and widow, Bethany, then huddled around a grave at Wheaton Cemetery to say final goodbyes.
Landeck's sister, Jenny, wore the pain visibly as she cupped her face with her hands and let the tears flow as the rest of her family watched silently.
A 10-soldier military detail began the 21-gun salute. The first round of shots pierced a long silence and the protective veil Landeck's wife wore. It was her time to cry. Her sobs increased as the sound of taps mixed with the odor of gunpowder in the air.
The detail of soldiers then conducted the ceremonial folding of the flag draped over Landeck's coffin. Once complete, a soldier dropped to one knee and handed it to Bethany Landeck, quickening the tears from the widow, who is also a soldier.
The scene repeated itself with a second flag given to Landeck's mother. She received the flag with a half-smile of pride and sorrow.
As the ceremony ended, Bethany Landeck approached her husband's coffin, bowed her head, and ran her hands slowly back and forth over the lid. In a final soldier's tribute, she stepped back, stood straight and saluted. Her husband was gone.
Her goodbyes were said. She walked away clutching the flag to her chest.
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