Coty (Theodore M.) West laid to rest

When family and friends of Pfc. Theodore “Coty” West arrived at the Berea Baptist Church for his memorial service Saturday, they were met by nearly 500 supporters who ringed the church property holding American flags.

There was no sign of a threatened protest by affiliates of a Kansas church that has sent protest pickets to the burials and memorial services of U.S. service personnel in recent months.

Before entering the church, some family members went along the line of flag wavers to shake hands and thank them for their support.

Most of the flag wavers were from Madison County, but many came from surrounding and nearby counties, organizers said. Local veterans organizations, including the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Marine Corps League, the Patriot Guard and others contributed to the well-ordered show of patriotic support, said Lt. Ken Clark of the Berea Police Department.

Many of the flag wavers also had been present the evening before when mourners visited the church to pay their respects to West’s family, Clark said.

Extra chairs were brought in to accommodate the 600 or more people who filled the church sanctuary for the 1 p.m. funeral that continued, presided over by a military chaplain, until 4 p.m.

As West had requested in plans he willingly made before leaving for combat duty abroad, family and friends were invited to share their reflections on his life.

Practically all who spoke noted that West had achieved his life-long dreams of becoming a soldier and “making a difference in the world.”

Collections of photos at the front of the sanctuary included pictures of Coty as a toddler wearing combat fatigues and cowboy boots. Other photos showed Pfc. West wearing real fatigues and combat boots. A heart-shaped wreath of red carnations also stood near his casket.

After West’s sister, Sheri Miller, read “the love passage” from I Corinthians 13, his wife, Jennifer Gregory West of Greenville, began the series of tributes to the young man who lost his life Nov. 29 in Iraq while serving with the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division.

“He liked to tell me he thought I was perfect,” said the young woman he had married only six months before. “I can’t believe that God would give me such an angel,” she quoted him as saying. “I told him it was because you are perfect,” she said.

West’s father, Bill, recalled him as “a simple man” who even as a child had profound thoughts. Coty was well-read and possessed a depth of knowledge that only those who knew him well realized, his father said.

In a “cheer-up dad” letter he wrote in August 2005, West reminded his father that children should be given the opportunity to make their own mistakes and experience their own pain.

“Coty believed that adversity introduces a man to himself,” his father said.

Whenever his father became angry with his son as a child, Coty would ask his father “Are you still my daddy?”

When his father said “Yes,” Coty would break into his infectious grin and say, “And I’m still your little boy.”

Coty “always embraced today,” his father said. His untimely death underscores Coty’s belief that “We shouldn’t spend too much time planning for the tomorrow that will never come,” the elder West said.

West said he learned the values of teamwork and loyalty from his five children.

“They cared for each other and protected each other,” he said. “You had to love them as a group. It’s hard to think about one of them being gone.”

West’s brother, Ben, recalled that he “almost seemed excited about going” when he said farewell as Coty was leaving for Iraq. “Ships are safe in harbor, but that’s not what they’re made for,” his soldier brother told him.

“Coty believed that by volunteering for the Army he was helping ensure that those he loved would be safe and happy,” his brother said. “He loved what he was doing because he loved us all so much.”

West was motivated by “his understanding of what gives us the right to be here now,” his brother said. “He paid the price of freedom for us.”

West’s “best friend from the Army,” Pfc. Ben Bowman, said he and Coty had “bled together, cried together and laughed together.” He read the American Soldier’s Creed which vows that “A soldier never quits.”

West’s funeral procession arrived at the Richmond Cemetery about 4:40 p.m.

The sun, just barely above the horizon, cast long shadows as his family and friends gathered in the cool air around his grave.

Nearly 50 others stood close behind the funeral party holding American flags that fluttered in a gentle breeze.

After final prayers were said, seven soldiers from Fort Knox fired three rifle volleys in a 21-gun salute.

After a bugler played “taps,” the honor guard proceeded to the casket.

The soldiers carefully folded the American flag draped over its top as Bart Davidson of Richmond played “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes. The folded flag was presented to West’s family with a salute.

The bagpiper then played “My Old Kentucky Home” as the mourners hugged each other and began to depart.

West was one of the first soldiers from America’s current conflict to be buried in the historic cemetery that contains the bodies of U.S. military veterans from each war since the Revolution.

From the Register

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