guy I played against in high school(who was a hell of a qb) died in '06, he was the 1st local guy(only two others have) to die over there... I remember his funeral like it was yesterday... by far one of the saddest memories I have but at the same time, it was amazing to see how he was honored by the Vets, Government, etc... Matt was definitely laid to rest with honor... ESPN even did a story on him years later that aired:
the ESPN link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/etick...ry?page=conley
I know a lot of people probably won't think much of that, but even with our schools being highschool rivals, I'm pretty sure every member of our '02-'03 football team attended his funeral... was a very sad day
what was really terrible about it is his wife was 8 months pregnant when he died... the Humvee he was riding in hit an IED... one of the Documentaries that came out last year on the war was made by a guy either in his unit or traveling with his unit at the time of the event, I remember seeing the explosion and then them honoring him as a casualty that day in the trailer... I have searched for that documentary since seeing the trailer and know its out now, unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it