Willsun Mock laid to rest

In the days since her son's death, Ann Mock has been flooded with condolences and stories about her youngest child.

She always knew WillSun Mock was special. She just didn't know how many people felt the same.

Tales of Mock's heroism, valor, courage and selflessness continued Thursday as the 23-year-old U.S. Army sergeant was honored at his Wellington church before being buried in Harper, where he lived.

"He left quite a legacy," Ann Mock said the night before the services. Her son was killed Oct. 22 by an improvised explosive device in Baghdad.

J'Sun Mock told the overflowing Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints audience that his brother told him he wanted to be strong like him one day. But part of J'Sun's strength, he said, came from WillSun's admiration.

"He had a fierceness about him that just left no room for worries about his own self," he said.

As J'Sun Mock spoke, WillSun's flag-draped coffin sat feet away.

"Brothers we were before, brothers we were here, and brothers we will yet be," he said in closing.

WillSun's brother-in-law Shane Kirby was brief with his own words about the member of the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division based in Schweinfurt, Germany. But Kirby read to those gathered a letter to Ann Mock from Capt. Michael B. Bacha, WillSun's company commander.

"Sgt. WillSun M. Mock was an awesome soldier," Bacha wrote. "Your son always lead his men from the front, and that's exactly what he was doing" when he was killed.

He was in the lead Humvee as squad leader. It was his second tour of duty in Iraq.

The night before the Oct. 22 explosion, Mock's last words to Bacha reflected a tattoo on his arm: "Strength and honor."

The letter, Kirby said, showed that the Mock the family knew was the same one his fellow soldiers knew.

After the funeral, a miles-long procession made its way from Wellington to Harper Cemetery. Members of the Kansas Patriot Guard led the way, with about 160 motorcycles in front and behind Mock's hearse and his family.

Another 40 rode ahead to the cemetery to wait for their arrival.

The group, formed in 2005, aims to show support for families and friends of fallen soldiers. On the other side, a handful of members of the Topeka-based, Fred Phelps-led Westboro Baptist Church protested outside the Wellington Church.

Ann Mock praised the Patriot Guard's support Wednesday evening.

"They are as dedicated to their cause as Will was," she said.

As the procession headed west on Highway 160, groups large and small, waving flags large and small, lined the road.

"Fly it," said Fon Stangl of Argonia to her 4-year-old granddaughter, Madison Owens. "Fly it high."

Similar scenes took place in Argonia - with workers outside Kiser Manufacturing and Argonia High School - Danville and Harper.

Above the procession as it was westbound through Harper was a flag raised by the Harper Fire Department, flying from one of its trucks. As the vehicles headed back east on Main Street, two Aquila trucks did likewise.

At the cemetery, six uniformed soldiers placed Mock's casket above its resting place. Mock received a full military graveside service, with a 21-gun volley and taps played on a bugle.

The same six soldiers crisply folded a U.S. flag triangularly for presentation, along with WillSun's military medals, to Ann Mock. The same medals and another folded flag were given to his father, Michael Mock, a Vietnam War veteran, before the service concluded.

Afterward, those at the graveside service approached Ann Mock and her family, sharing more condolences and more tales about WillSun.

Everything she had heard since his death was bittersweet, Ann Mock said. If he hadn't been killed in action, she said, it's likely she wouldn't hear these stories - certainly not from her son directly. He was too humble and would never "toot his own horn."

She shared what she had heard and what she had read on the Internet with her family in the days between WillSun's death and burial.

Afterward, Ann said one of her daughters, choked up with emotion, asked her, "Why didn't we know this before?"

From the Hutchinson News

Related Link:
Willsun Mock honored by comrades

Related Link:
Willsun M. Mock killed by I.E.D.