Today, I went to the memorial service for Corporal Joseph Anzack Jr., the soldier from Torrance who was killed in Iraq a few weeks ago. It was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. It was the first guy in a long time from Torrance and because it was such a high profile incident, it hit everyone really hard. The funeral procession crossed the city and the streets were lined with people the entire time. A bunch of veterans with American flags were in the procession and his coffin was on a horse drawn carriage. South retired his football number (52) and all the Torrance policemen who weren’t on patrol came to pay their respects as well. The local country station dedicated Tim McGraw’s “If You’re Reading This” to him. If you haven’t heard the song, watch the video.
I would guess about 1500 people showed up for the memorial service at South High: people who had known him and people who hadn’t, liberals and conservatives, pro-war and anti-war. And in spite of all their ideological differences, everyone sat together to honor our Torrance hero and show support for the family…except for the idiots having an anti-war protest on the corner of PCH and Calle Mayor. I’m sorry for the language, but really, you have to be a horrible person to show up at a memorial for someone and stage a protest. On the plus side, they left pretty quickly … after they were chased out by angry residents.
It’s weird, but I think the hardest part was listening to his music. He graduated South in 2005 and all the songs he liked were songs that I know and like. He was so young… it makes me feel like I’m not doing enough. I’m just not quite sure what more I can do…
Filed under: Iraq, Supporting the Troops
[...] Hmm. I’m going with “If You’re Reading This.” The first time I ever heard it was at a memorial service for a young soldier from my home town who had been killed in Iraq – CPL Joseph Anzack. (You can read about it here.) [...]