Re: Marine Sergeant Kevin Balduf
Recieved this in email today
Haven’t checked the authenticity of this event, but do embrace the spirit and intent.
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Subject: Mississippi Rednecks - A fallen hero is honored in Mississippi
On Saturday USMC Staff Sgt. Jason Rogers, who was killed in action in Afghanistan April 7, was buried in Brandon, Mississippi. Just a funeral procession of town folks honoring another town folk who came home to his final resting place. Two things stand out. One, the town turns out enmasse in honor of Sgt. Rogers and, two, the Westboro Baptist folks were nowhere to be seen. They had claimed they would picket the funeral. Where were they?
A couple of days before, one of them ran his mouth at a Brandon gas station and got his ass waxed. Police were called and the beaten man could not give much of a description of who beat him. When they canvassed the station and spoke to the large crowd that had gathered around, no one seemed to remember anything about what had happened.
Rankin County handled this thing perfectly. There were many things that were put into place that most will never know about and at great expense to the county.
Most of the Westboro Baptist folks never made it out of their hotel parking lot. It seems that certain Rankin county pickup trucks were parked directly behind any car that had Kansas plates in the hotel parking lot and the drivers mysteriously disappeared until after the funeral was over. Police were called but their wrecker service was running behind and it was going to be a few hours before they could tow the trucks so the Kansas plated cars could get out.
A few made it to the funeral but were ushered away to be questioned about a crime they might have possibly been involved in. Turns out, after a few hours of questioning, that they were not involved and they were allowed to go on about their business.
JB was the bagpiper at the funeral. He's a member of the Father of Waters, Mississippi's bagpipe band. He sent the following e-mail to his fellow bagpipers -
"A quick update on the funeral I piped today for SSGT Jason Rogers, the Marine who was KIA in Afghanistan last week. There were several thousand people who showed up to pay their respects to this fallen hero. The Marines even sent a detachment all the way from Camp LeJeune, NC to serve as a special honor guard. The Marine Corps Chaplain was there to deliver the eulogy and conduct the graveside services. There were well over 100 military personnel there to handle every detail. It lent a new meaning to Full Military Honors."
"There were also several hundred Patriot Guard Riders there to act as a buffer between the mourners and the folks from Westboro "Baptist" Church."
"The folks from Westboro were prevented from entering the grounds of Pinelake Baptist Church, where the funeral service was held, as the church is considered private property. So we were braced for them at the cemetery."
"However, a funny thing happened to them on their way to the cemetery. I was told that they had gathered at a vacant lot next to the Taco Bell in downtown Brandon to get organized, pass out their filthy signs, etc. However, someone notified the owner of the vacant lot, who promptly called the police and pressed charges against them for trespassing. The police came and placed all of them under arrest, and hauled them down to the station."
"However, since almost all of the Brandon Police Department was tied up with traffic control and escort duties for the funeral, there was no one available to interview the detainees, so they were forced to wait until an officer came back to the station-- AFTER the graveside services. I noticed that there were several Brandon police cruisers hanging around the cemetery until everyone had safely left the site. It took over an hour to empty the cemetery of all the cars. The news media estimated the crowd at the cemetery at over 3000."
"The Westboro Baptist folks should have had more sense than to mess with Mississippi rednecks."
