Shawn English laid to rest

Outside a Westerville church, the sun shone so brightly yesterday that it was easy to forget a storm had passed through the night before.

But the damp grass knew better.

Inside, the church was lined with red ribbons, flowers and holiday wreaths, but it was the cheeks of Tricia English, wet with tears, that made it obvious: Dec. 13 came in the wake of something not to be forgotten.

Army Capt. Shawn English, 35, of New Albany, was killed by an improvised explosive device in Baghdad, Iraq, on Dec. 3. His funeral took place at the Central College Presbyterian Church yesterday.

English’s wife flew with their three sons, Nathan, 7, Noah, 5, and Austin, 3, from their home in Panama City Beach, Fla., to say goodbye to their hero for the last time.

English was assigned in February to train Iraqi army soldiers.

When the explosive went off near English’s Humvee, Army Lt. Col. George Benter remembers hearing the dispatch at the Baghdad command post.

"When something like that happens, all you can do is start praying with all your might," he said. "Time was of the essence and I … we did everything we could."

Benter was the first to arrive at the funeral, which eventually would draw about 400 people.

"Men like my husband are so rare," Mrs. English said before the services. "I was married to the most amazing man, and my boys knew they had the most amazing daddy. I just pray that I will have the strength to go on without the love of my life."

When they were first getting to know each other, Tricia told Shawn that she wanted to be married in a church with a long aisle. She said she planned on getting married only once, so why not do it big?

On their second date, in the very church she sat crying in yesterday, he whispered to her, "So is this aisle long enough? "

They would marry in the summer of 1998.

Capt. English was respected by everyone who had the honor of knowing him, said brother-inlaw Todd Daily. English was all heart, he said, and loved his family with all of it.

English served at bases across the country in his 16 years of military service, but he seemed to have found a home in Florida, where he planned to stay.

He played football for New Albany High School and raised 4-H sheep before joining the service immediately after graduating in 1990.

His best friend didn’t know him during that time, but as Capt. Nathan Surrey stared at the casket covered with an American flag, memories of the past three years overwhelmed him.

"I have never met a better husband or father," said Surrey, who bonded with English when they met for Army management training in 2003. "He showed me the right way to raise my future family, and I will watch over yours, Shawn, like I promised you."

Surrey also escorted English’s body on a Delta Airlines flight out of Atlanta on Monday. When the plane was about an hour away from Columbus, the pilot informed the passengers that English’s body was on board.

After landing, the plane was quiet and everyone remained in their seats until Surrey reached the front. Then, everyone started clapping.

"My husband and I were almost in tears," said Judith Haddox of Columbus, who was on the plane and had never met Surrey or English. "It was such an emotional moment ... I won’t ever forget it."

Surrey escorted Mrs. English out of the church after yesterday’s services.

English was buried in New Albany’s Maplewood Cemetery, next to his father, Donald.

Read the rest at the Columbus Dispatch

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Shawn L. English killed by I.E.D.