Hundreds attend Veterans' Day funeral for Beatrice soldier
Posted: Sunday, November 13, 2005
BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) -- St. John's Lutheran Church could barely hold all the people who came to say goodbye to Army Spc. Darren Howe on Veterans Day.
Hundreds of people on Friday remembered the 21-year-old son, husband, father, friend, brother and soldier who died Nov. 3, nearly three weeks after a roadside bomb detonated near the Bradley personnel carrier he was driving in Iraq.
Pastor Mark Sutphin called Howe a hero. After being badly burned in the blast, Howe was able to drive the Bradley out of harm's way and help evacuate the soldiers riding in it.
Howe's actions weren't surprising to those who knew him, Sutphin said, who first met the young man four years ago.
Howe then still lived with his mom and stepfather, JoDee and Greg Klaus, and his brothers Brandon Howe and Alex Klaus.
Darren Howe was quiet, Sutphin said, but it was obvious from the beginning he was considerate to his parents, patient with his younger brothers.
Howe became friends with Sutphin's sons. When one of them was deployed to Iraq, Howe sometimes would stop by Sutphin's house just to make sure he and his wife were OK.
When Howe found out he would be deployed, he made sure his own family would be taken care of, too, instructing a friend to look after his wife, Nakia; daughter, Shaye-Maleigh; son, Gary-Dean; and his mom.
That's just the way he was.
"My oldest son always said Darren was squared away, that he did things the right way," Sutphin said.
That extended to his tour of duty in Iraq.
"He showed that when he handled the Bradley," Sutphin said.
Howe's younger cousin Derek Klaus called Howe a true patriot. He read an essay he had written about Howe, about his actions after the bomb tore into the Bradley, about the second- and third-degree burns he suffered.
Klaus said people who serve in the armed forces show courage most people couldn't imagine.
"They love and support their country enough to leave family and friends so you and me can sleep in peace," Klaus said.
Even those who didn't know Howe turned out to honor him.
As the funeral procession snaked toward the cemetery, hundreds of schoolchildren and Beatrice residents lined U.S. 77, holding flags and handmade signs that said "Thank You", standing solemnly.
Hundreds of people on Friday remembered the 21-year-old son, husband, father, friend, brother and soldier who died Nov. 3, nearly three weeks after a roadside bomb detonated near the Bradley personnel carrier he was driving in Iraq.
Pastor Mark Sutphin called Howe a hero. After being badly burned in the blast, Howe was able to drive the Bradley out of harm's way and help evacuate the soldiers riding in it.
Howe's actions weren't surprising to those who knew him, Sutphin said, who first met the young man four years ago.
Howe then still lived with his mom and stepfather, JoDee and Greg Klaus, and his brothers Brandon Howe and Alex Klaus.
Darren Howe was quiet, Sutphin said, but it was obvious from the beginning he was considerate to his parents, patient with his younger brothers.
Howe became friends with Sutphin's sons. When one of them was deployed to Iraq, Howe sometimes would stop by Sutphin's house just to make sure he and his wife were OK.
When Howe found out he would be deployed, he made sure his own family would be taken care of, too, instructing a friend to look after his wife, Nakia; daughter, Shaye-Maleigh; son, Gary-Dean; and his mom.
That's just the way he was.
"My oldest son always said Darren was squared away, that he did things the right way," Sutphin said.
That extended to his tour of duty in Iraq.
"He showed that when he handled the Bradley," Sutphin said.
Howe's younger cousin Derek Klaus called Howe a true patriot. He read an essay he had written about Howe, about his actions after the bomb tore into the Bradley, about the second- and third-degree burns he suffered.
Klaus said people who serve in the armed forces show courage most people couldn't imagine.
"They love and support their country enough to leave family and friends so you and me can sleep in peace," Klaus said.
Even those who didn't know Howe turned out to honor him.
As the funeral procession snaked toward the cemetery, hundreds of schoolchildren and Beatrice residents lined U.S. 77, holding flags and handmade signs that said "Thank You", standing solemnly.
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