Note: This article was originally published on Nov. 13, 2003. We’re re-posting it now for our tribute to Colorado’s Fallen.
Palmer, Neb. – A soldier killed in Iraq as he was coming home for a
two-week leave was buried next to his grandfather Wednesday, with
hundreds attending the military funeral.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Bader, 28, of Fort Carson, near Colorado Springs,
was born in York and lived there for part of his childhood before
his family moved to Colorado Springs. A memorial service was held
in Colorado earlier this week.
Bader was killed Nov. 2 when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter he was
riding in was shot down near Fallujah, Iraq, as he was traveling
home on leave. Bader was one of 16 killed in the missile attack.
Bader’s survivors include his wife, 30-year-old Tiffany, and
14-month-old daughter, Taryn.
“Staff Sgt. Daniel Bader felt the ultimate wound, and now it is
you, family and friends, who bear the deep scars of war,” the Rev.
Robert Schilling said at the funeral in St. John’s Lutheran
Church.
The large crowd included members of the military who knew Bader,
and who were paying tribute to a fallen comrade.
Shots in salute shattered the silence at Rose Hill Cemetery and
flags rustled as the American flag covering Bader’s coffin was
folded into a tight triangle.
Bader received three awards posthumously: the Bronze Star, the
Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal.
