Jun 08
29
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Funeral of Pfc. Jason Cox, 21-year-old soldier killed in Iraq ...
The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com, OH - 6 hours ago
Brad Quick, the church's pastor, talked to the congregation about the soldier's character, discipline and willingness to put his country before himself. ...
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Patriot Guard Riders hold flags at the door to First Baptist Church in Carlisle Township.At the First Baptist Church on LaGrange Road, a collage of photos of Cox, 21, in his Army uniform and civilian clothes was prominently displayed. Written at the top was his name, Jason Nathaniel Cox, and ''Till we meet again'' was across the bottom of the display.
Jason Cox may not have known many of the hundreds of people who attended his funeral on Saturday, but members of the community wanted his family to know they appreciated his sacrifice to America.
About 600 people went to First Baptist Church to pay their respects to the U.S. Army specialist, who died in Iraq on June 16 after a vehicle he was in struck an explosive. He was 21.
The day before, he had sent a dozen red roses to his fiancée for her 19th birthday.
Cox, a 2004 Elyria High School graduate, was a private first class in the Army and was a few weeks away from returning to Northeast Ohio. He was the 48th person with ties to the Cleveland area to die in Iraq and was the seventh from Lorain County.
The Rev. Brad Quick, the church's pastor, talked to the congregation about the soldier's character, discipline and willingness to put his country before himself.
"I think all of us are at a loss for words to express our grief for what took place last week in Iraq," Quick said to the congregation. "There is a cost to freedom. Freedom is not free."
Quick said that a couple dozen military personnel from First Baptist have gone overseas to fight in Operation Iraqi Freedom but that Cox was the church's first casualty.
"I remember him as a boy; his whole family has been coming to this church for a long time," Quick said. "Today brings a lot of grief, but at the same time, we are very proud of him."
Cox was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, N.C. His two older brothers, Matthew, 28, and Ryan, 25, are also in the Army. They acted as pallbearers during Saturday's ceremony.
The family declined to speak to the media.
Sgt. Dave Lemons, a 20-plus-year military veteran who now serves in the Ohio Army National Guard, said he hadn't known Cox but knew members of his family.
"He is deserving of respect and honor," Lemons said. "In the combat zone, you never know when you wake up if you will see the next day. It is tragic because he lost his life."
As a hearse carrying the soldier's body to the cemetery traveled through downtown Elyria, hundreds of people - many holding American flags - lined sidewalks to pay respect to the Cox family.
Scott Gregory stood with his 12-year-old son, Scott Jr., on Middle Avenue as hundreds of cars drove toward the cemetery where Cox was to be buried. The two waved small American flags as the procession passed.
"I brought him out here to let him know that this is not a video game, it's real life," said Gregory, 38. "We came to pay our respects because he made the ultimate sacrifice to his country."
