Another Soldier Funeral...

[JPalmer]

If any of you in the metroplex are looking for some nice journalism to shoot and willing to leave home early Sat. morning....

Marine Sgt. Gary Johnston, 23, will be buried in Archer City after a 10 a.m. funeral mass at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Windthorst (a tiny German dairy town on Hwy. 281 south of Wichita Falls). Archer City is only a few miles away from Windthorst.

Both the Patriot Riders and the Kansas Church group have said they'll be there.....the riders for certain will be.

We've been following the story ever since news broke of his death on the 23rd.....I won't be on duty tomarrow for work, but I'll probably go to the service. Windthorst is the kind of town that you get attached to if your in the area.

Anyways......they are expecting 100s if not 1000 people to show.

No politics please....

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by JPalmer

If any of you in the metroplex are looking for some nice journalism to shoot and willing to leave home early Sat. morning....

Marine Sgt. Gary Johnston, 23, will be buried in Archer City after a 10 a.m. funeral mass at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Windthorst (a tiny German dairy town on Hwy. 281 south of Wichita Falls). Archer City is only a few miles away from Windthorst.

Both the Patriot Riders and the Kansas Church group have said they'll be there.....the riders for certain will be.

We've been following the story ever since news broke of his death on the 23rd.....I won't be on duty tomarrow for work, but I'll probably go to the service. Windthorst is the kind of town that you get attached to if your in the area.

Anyways......they are expecting 100s if not 1000 people to show.

No politics please....

The Grotto at St. Mary's Church is worth the trip just to photograph it. Here's a bit about it. The Parish veterans sent money to have it built during WWII.

[JPalmer]

We had a big story about the Grotto in today's paper actually....

The town of Windthorst sent 64 of their sons into World War II.....all of them came home. It took a few years for them to build it after WWII.

The town's first wartime death was in Korea... Paul Himmels, who was killed on July 25, 1953. There is a plaque honoring him in the grotto. There will be one for Johnston soon.