Kingsley soldier buried
By Tim Gallagher Journal staff writer | Posted: Thursday, February 28, 2008
David Groepper holds his granddaughter, Clarrisa Groepper, during services for her father, U.S. Army Spc. Chad Groepper who was killed in Iraq. Looking from far left is Stephanie Groepper, Chad's wife. Next to Stephanie is her mother, Sue Kittleson. The funeral was held at the Kingsley-Pierson, Iowa, High School, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2007. (Sioux City Journal, Jerry Mennenga)
KINGSLEY, Iowa -- On a day where it felt like spring finally sprang here, a soldier was buried, the first soldier from Kingsley killed in action in 58 years.
An estimated 1,000 friends, relatives and fellow soldiers filled Kingsley-Pierson High School Gymnasium for the funeral service of U.S. Army Spc. Chad Groepper, 21, who died Feb. 17 of combat injuries he suffered while serving in the War on Terror northeast of Baghdad, Iraq.
It was a day for a good snowball fight.
Groepper's sister, Denae Erickson, stood at the podium and urged those present to keep from crying. She laughed in recalling how her baby brother, a boy who seemingly always went against the grain, once installed speakers in her car.
She had asked him to change the oil.
"Yeah, but doesn't it sound great?" Chad had asked her in return.
At the entrance of the school, visitors penned memories of Groepper while others read an essay the young man wrote several years ago. He described his worst day in elementary school, a day where, as a first-grader, he took on the fearsome fourth-graders in a snowball fight.
"It was a nice day to have a snowball fight, because the snow stuck together perfectly," he wrote.
When his first-grade friends weren't allowed to play on the pile of snow by the basketball hoops, he responded to a classmate's dare and led a retaliatory strike. Little Chad Groepper threw a snowball. It struck one of those "almighty" fourth-graders.
"You know how I am," he wrote. "It doesn't take much to light my fuse."
He owned up to the act seconds later when a teacher approached, victim in her arms. Little Chad Groepper was forced to apologize.
Erickson read a memorial message from Groepper to those closest to him, including his wife, Stephanie, and their infant daughter, Clarissa, who sipped from a bottle held by his father, David Groepper.
"Clarissa, your daddy wants you to stand up for what is right and to never back down," she said. "Especially when it's a snowball fight."
He fought evil
The Rev. John Battern in his homily shared stories of Biblical warriors who, like Groepper, stood up for themselves and for others. The soldier was well aware of the risks involved in serving his country in hostile territory.
Protecting freedoms at home was that important to him, Battern noted.
"I can say without a doubt that this is not God's will," Battern continued. "God would not want Clarissa to grow up without her father. But the reality is that we live in a world where evil exists."
The pastor quoted philosopher Edmund Burke, who is said to have uttered: "For evil to triumph, it is necessary only that good men do nothing."
"Chad was not going to stand by and let evil triumph unchallenged," Battern said.
In dying, Groepper became the 17th Siouxland soldier to be killed while serving his country in this War on Terror and the 65th Iowa casualty. He is the first Kingsley soldier killed in combat since Cpl. Dean W. White of the United States Marines was killed in combat near Seoul, Korea, Sept. 24, 1950.
Groepper, a 2004 graduate of Kingsley-Pierson High School, is the first K-P graduate killed in action since U.S. Army Cpl. Mark Petersen of Pierson was killed at Quang Nam Province in Vietnam on Nov. 19, 1967.
Groepper's name will now be added near that of White and Petersen on the Veterans Memorial which stands west of the Kingsley Community Center. His will be the 24th name on the "KIA" tile at the top of the brick memorial.
As the funeral service concluded, Steve Layton of Ankeny, Iowa, played "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes and led a funeral procession that stretched more than a mile. Business people and customers stopped their activity, saluting on Main Street as the soldier's casket passed beneath a giant U.S. flag suspended over Main by ladder trucks from Le Mars and Onawa, Iowa.
"He deserves it," said Onawa Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Bellis, himself a veteran.
The line of vehicles crawled north toward Kingsley Cemetery, where Spc. Chad Groepper was buried halfway up a hill on the cemetery's south side.
A police officer stood at the intersection of Third and Main, directing traffic and nodding to mourners. A half-block west, three little boys rolled down a pile of snow, shrieking with delight, gloves and mittens soaked on a sun-kissed afternoon.
One boy even chucked a snowball. Thankfully, it missed his buddy.
But it sure was packing nice.
Uniquely Chad
Chad Groepper, the son of David and Darcy Groepper of Kinsgley, Iowa, was described as a free spirit. The December 2004 graduate of Kingsley-Pierson High School played football for the Panthers, sporting uniform No. 71 for a team that finished 7-2 in 2004. Of 44 seniors, Groepper was the only one to have his senior portrait published in the yearbook in black-and-white.
An estimated 1,000 friends, relatives and fellow soldiers filled Kingsley-Pierson High School Gymnasium for the funeral service of U.S. Army Spc. Chad Groepper, 21, who died Feb. 17 of combat injuries he suffered while serving in the War on Terror northeast of Baghdad, Iraq.
It was a day for a good snowball fight.
Groepper's sister, Denae Erickson, stood at the podium and urged those present to keep from crying. She laughed in recalling how her baby brother, a boy who seemingly always went against the grain, once installed speakers in her car.
She had asked him to change the oil.
"Yeah, but doesn't it sound great?" Chad had asked her in return.
At the entrance of the school, visitors penned memories of Groepper while others read an essay the young man wrote several years ago. He described his worst day in elementary school, a day where, as a first-grader, he took on the fearsome fourth-graders in a snowball fight.
"It was a nice day to have a snowball fight, because the snow stuck together perfectly," he wrote.
When his first-grade friends weren't allowed to play on the pile of snow by the basketball hoops, he responded to a classmate's dare and led a retaliatory strike. Little Chad Groepper threw a snowball. It struck one of those "almighty" fourth-graders.
"You know how I am," he wrote. "It doesn't take much to light my fuse."
He owned up to the act seconds later when a teacher approached, victim in her arms. Little Chad Groepper was forced to apologize.
Erickson read a memorial message from Groepper to those closest to him, including his wife, Stephanie, and their infant daughter, Clarissa, who sipped from a bottle held by his father, David Groepper.
"Clarissa, your daddy wants you to stand up for what is right and to never back down," she said. "Especially when it's a snowball fight."
He fought evil
The Rev. John Battern in his homily shared stories of Biblical warriors who, like Groepper, stood up for themselves and for others. The soldier was well aware of the risks involved in serving his country in hostile territory.
Protecting freedoms at home was that important to him, Battern noted.
"I can say without a doubt that this is not God's will," Battern continued. "God would not want Clarissa to grow up without her father. But the reality is that we live in a world where evil exists."
The pastor quoted philosopher Edmund Burke, who is said to have uttered: "For evil to triumph, it is necessary only that good men do nothing."
"Chad was not going to stand by and let evil triumph unchallenged," Battern said.
In dying, Groepper became the 17th Siouxland soldier to be killed while serving his country in this War on Terror and the 65th Iowa casualty. He is the first Kingsley soldier killed in combat since Cpl. Dean W. White of the United States Marines was killed in combat near Seoul, Korea, Sept. 24, 1950.
Groepper, a 2004 graduate of Kingsley-Pierson High School, is the first K-P graduate killed in action since U.S. Army Cpl. Mark Petersen of Pierson was killed at Quang Nam Province in Vietnam on Nov. 19, 1967.
Groepper's name will now be added near that of White and Petersen on the Veterans Memorial which stands west of the Kingsley Community Center. His will be the 24th name on the "KIA" tile at the top of the brick memorial.
As the funeral service concluded, Steve Layton of Ankeny, Iowa, played "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes and led a funeral procession that stretched more than a mile. Business people and customers stopped their activity, saluting on Main Street as the soldier's casket passed beneath a giant U.S. flag suspended over Main by ladder trucks from Le Mars and Onawa, Iowa.
"He deserves it," said Onawa Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Bellis, himself a veteran.
The line of vehicles crawled north toward Kingsley Cemetery, where Spc. Chad Groepper was buried halfway up a hill on the cemetery's south side.
A police officer stood at the intersection of Third and Main, directing traffic and nodding to mourners. A half-block west, three little boys rolled down a pile of snow, shrieking with delight, gloves and mittens soaked on a sun-kissed afternoon.
One boy even chucked a snowball. Thankfully, it missed his buddy.
But it sure was packing nice.
Uniquely Chad
Chad Groepper, the son of David and Darcy Groepper of Kinsgley, Iowa, was described as a free spirit. The December 2004 graduate of Kingsley-Pierson High School played football for the Panthers, sporting uniform No. 71 for a team that finished 7-2 in 2004. Of 44 seniors, Groepper was the only one to have his senior portrait published in the yearbook in black-and-white.
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Grateful in Sioux City wrote on Feb 28, 2008 5:16 PM:
May the Lord comfort and bless you all as you reflect upon his great sacrifice with even greater pride. "
Dick wrote on Feb 28, 2008 2:41 PM:
Pat T wrote on Feb 28, 2008 5:24 AM:
Jose S wrote on Feb 28, 2008 3:00 AM: