Jonathan Schiller laid to rest

OTTUMWA — The soldier who brought laughter and a feeling of pride to so many people came home.

Hundreds of mourners attended services Monday to say good-bye to Cpl. Jonathan E. “Jon” Schiller, 20, a 2004 Ottumwa High School graduate who was killed fighting in Iraq. Services were held in the OHS Auditorium.

“He’s not a hero because he died. He’s a hero because of the way he lived,” said 2nd Lt. John Paluska, an Army infantry officer —and OHS grad — wounded by a bomb in Iraq six weeks ago.

Paluska said he remembered his fellow Ottumwan as someone who could make anyone smile. He told mourners of the day he heard Schiller was in the Army, too.

“In the summer of 2005 ... I called him up, and welcomed him into the brotherhood,” Paluska said. “I realized he had grown into a man. I could hear the loyalty ... in his voice.”

He explained that Schiller had entered at the lowest possible pay grade, E-1, private, but quickly rose through the ranks to E-4, specialist. He was then promoted to a leadership position: E-4, corporal.

The lieutenant said he wasn’t surprised Schiller had become a leader in the Army; he’d always been a leader. Friends and family laughed when Paluska recalled that in high school, Schiller had shown “leadership qualities” of a different sort, even when getting his friends to make prank phone calls for him.

“The Army molded him into a professional soldier and gentleman,” Paluska said.

He recalled another phone conversation they’d had just before Schiller deployed to Iraq. He didn’t realize, he said, it would be the last time they would speak.

According to the military, Schiller and another soldier were killed when insurgent forces detonated an improvised explosive device directly adjacent to the armored Humvee in which [Schiller] was a passenger. The attack occurred during a combat patrol near Baqubah, Iraq during the afternoon of Dec. 31.

Both soldiers were part of the 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division, which is based at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Schiller had spent time with his fellow soldiers in the 1st Cavalry, and made friends. U.S. Army Sgt. Stanley Struthers spoke of meeting the tall, friendly Schiller. He said they became good friends in the time they worked on military vehicles together, and that he came to love the fun-loving Schiller.

He said there were other 1st Cavalry soldiers who will also miss Schiller. He read e-mails from soldiers in Iraq talking about Jon’s sense of humor and his fondness for telling stories that “were a little far fetched.”

The theme from many speakers, and from those soldiers who wrote, was that no matter how bad things got over there, Schiller could always make them laugh.

One soldier wrote to say, “Cpl. Schiller came to my house to play poker. He was good at it. I always asked him to teach me to shuffle chips, but he acted like it was a secret.”

This fun-loving guy who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind could hardly be considered “meek,” yet, said the Rev. Paul Smith, Jon was indeed meek, as in, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.”

The pastor from the family’s church, Wesley United Methodist, explained.

“Meek doesn’t mean weak,” Rev. Smith said. “Moses, the greatest leader in the Bible next to Jesus was called the meekest of all. [Meek] is to know who you’re ultimate commander is — The Lord. [Jon] submitted to God.”

Though gathered in grief, there is hope, too, because Jesus said those who believe in Me will have eternal life, for I am life, the pastor said.

“His physical body is of no use to him now,” Smith went on. “His soul is eternal. We will enter into the New Kingdom if we remember what Jon remembered: Do not be afraid. God will be with us always.”

Smith said the family had a request of the hundreds of mourners in the auditorium. They asked that the service be concluded with everyone present singing of “God Bless America.”

The service had begun, too, with patriotic music playing. A slide show of Schiller’s life — from childhood romps in the pool to photos of him in uniform — played across a screen on stage, where the flag-drapped casket shared space with more than two dozen floral bouquets.

When those gathered had finished singing “God Bless America,” a military detail carried the casket from the stage, through the auditorium and down the long front stairs of the high school.

Schiller was to be borne away for burial at Silent City Cemetery in Monroe. Ottumwa police, firefighters and school children with tiny flags lined the streets the funeral procession would drive along.

As the casket was escorted down the steps to the hearse, dozens of full-sized American flags rippled and snapped in the wind. While a uniformed bagpiper played, some of those holding the flags looked up to see the nation’s symbol represented by nature, as five bald eagles circled overhead.

From the Courier

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