Scott Dykman laid to rest

HARRISON - Mourners gathered Friday on a snow-covered hill with a view of the Tobacco Root Mountains for the burial of Army Sgt. Scott Dykman, killed in Iraq after a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle.

Military friends said troops under Dykman's leadership respected him as a man who made sacrifices to protect fellow soldiers.

A military helicopter flew over as soldiers folded the U.S. flag that had covered the casket.

Earlier Friday, hundreds of mourners, including Gov. Brian Schweitzer, attended a memorial service at Harrison High School.

Dykman, 27, was on his third tour of duty in Iraq when the bomb exploded near his Humvee during a patrol Dec. 20 in Baghdad. The sergeant, the team leader for his squad, left the vehicle in an effort to secure the area, when there was a second explosion.

Power lines fell onto Dykman, electrocuting him. Four others in his squad were hospitalized.

"No one else was killed," said Lt. Col. Carolyn Battershell, an Army nurse who is a friend of Dykman's mother, Donna Koontz. "Scott jumped out to protect them. That's what he did."

Survivors include Dykman's wife, Chantelle; son William, 5; and daughter Rachel, 3. Dykman graduated from Harrison High School in 1998.

His father, Doug Dykman, is the community's fire chief.

From the Gazette

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