Keith Fiscus has services ahead of burial at Arlington

MIDDLETOWN -- One by one, current and former soldiers lined up at Keith E. Fiscus' casket Tuesday night to give a final salute.

An American flag tucked into a triangle and pictures lay next to the body of the Army sergeant from the Townsend area, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq on Dec. 2. His sand-brown boots were placed near his casket, which was surrounded by flowers.

The scores of relatives, friends and veterans who attended Fiscus' memorial service at the Middletown Volunteer Hose Company fire hall saw a montage set to songs such as "Wind Beneath My Wings" that showed Fiscus as a child, teenager and a young man. The tribute included videos of Fiscus in a desert firing an assault rifle at a walk-through firing range.

Charles Archer, Fiscus' brother-in-law, called him "an American hero."

"Keith was a dedicated soldier who died in Iraq doing what he wanted to do, defending the country that he loved so much, with honor and dignity," Archer said.

The viewing and service drew scores of people with no direct connection to Fiscus, the 14th Delaware soldier to die in Iraq, or his family.

Terry Baker, one of about 25 leather-clad Vietnam and Vietnam-era veterans who came on motorcycles, said the group came to "show America that you don't turn your backs on the warriors," as many did during the Vietnam War.

"We can't forget the sacrifice these young men and women are" making, said Baker, a veterans advocate for Vietnam Veterans of America who lives near Smyrna. "We're here to pay our respects to a fallen hero and try to support the family in whatever small way we can."

U.S. Rep. Mike Castle went to the viewing and offered his condolences to Fiscus' family.

Castle was among 296 House members who voted in October 2002 to approve a resolution authorizing the use of military force against Iraq.

Going to services for soldiers killed in Iraq hasn't changed his view on the war, Castle said, but it's important for national leaders to "understand exactly what the consequences are."

"It makes you think long and hard" about the war, Castle said.

"I'm going to support the troops while they're there," he added, "but like everyone else ... I'd like to see us be able to bring our troops home as soon as possible."

Gov. Ruth Ann Minner and various legislators also visited Tuesday night, funeral director Rob Hutchison said.

Hutchison quoted Fiscus' mother, Pamela, as thanking everyone for their support "from the bottom of my broken heart."

A procession from Middletown for Fiscus' burial at Arlington National Cemetery begins at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

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