Will Newgard laid to rest

As a boy, Will Newgard would contort his thin body to entertain his family, leaning back in an imitation of a rotund man.

He called it his "fat man walk," recalled his uncle, Mike Armstrong.

As a man, the 20-year-old more often stood tall - boosted by the pride he felt as a soldier serving his country.

Hundreds of family, friends and others on Monday celebrated the life of Army Pfc. William Robert Newgard in his hometown of Arlington Heights, more than two weeks after a roadside bomb killed him and another soldier in an armored Humvee in Baghdad, Iraq.

"The Army was what he loved. He was proud of what he was doing," Armstrong said. "And he died a hero in Iraq."

Mourners lifted their heads at St. James Catholic Church as they recalled the young man's courage. Wounded by the loss, they also sunk in tears and in prayer.

Newgard's death on Dec. 29 came nearly a month after his 20th birthday, and just a little more than a week after he returned to duty after a short leave home before the holidays.

The loss has devastated his hometown, Arlington Heights, where his father, Richard, lives, and Palatine, where his mother, Kathleen "Kaki," lives. The Newgards also have a 24-year-old daughter, Holly.

The fallen soldier has carried the war home, the Rev. James Hearne said.

"For seemingly, we had gone unscathed. We hadn't lost anyone in the battle. ... If we hadn't been affected before by what's going on in Iraq, Afghanistan and in the world, we certainly are now, aren't we?" Hearne said.

A photo of Newgard, with his trademark grin, set against the stars and stripes sat at the front of the church, honoring him as a beloved son, brother, soldier and friend during Monday's heartbreaking homecoming. The small boy that the neighborhood children used to tease and call "Baby" had grown.

During his recent leave home before Christmas and the New Year, Newgard tried to get a few friends he felt were headed down the wrong path to change direction, Hearne said.

Newgard had set Hearne on a different path Sunday night. As he took a walk searching for additional inspiration for his homily, Hearne saw flags flapping in the winter breeze. Then, it began to rain, and he saw someone lighting up a cigarette outside their home.

"And then it started to drizzle, and then I felt God's pain over this. ... For a brief moment, I saw Will in that flag," Hearne said. "And then for a brief moment, I felt Will in those raindrops."

Saying he didn't normally do such a thing at funerals, Hearne took a single cigarette and placed it on Newgard's casket in remembrance.

"I betcha folks Will is having the best smoke, longest smoke of his life," Hearne said.

"Not very healthy, Will," he admonished.

The gesture brought laughter at St. James, as did other fond remembrances. Kaki Newgard's friend Micki Paprocki talked about Newgard's grin. He flashed no teeth, but the crooked smile would always light up the room.

"So Willie, we miss you so much it hurts," Paprocki said.

His uncle said Newgard was a boy of few words growing up, but his love of the military had helped him shed his shy persona.

His uncle saw Newgard's military pride when he first saw his nephew in his St. John's Northwestern Military Academy uniform. He graduated from the Delafield, Wis., school in 2001, then from John Hersey High School in 2005.

A flag draping Newgard's casket was temporarily removed during the nearly two-hour Mass, as military honors await the burial Friday at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C. A military escort brought the body to the Chicago area and will return for an escort to Arlington.

Newgard a few years ago told his family how beautiful he found Arlington. The cemetery is set on the hills of the bank of the Potomac River, overlooking the nation's capital. About 300,000 service members are buried there.

The soldier's sacrifice was also honored closer to home.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich ordered flags at state offices to fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Monday to honor Newgard.

One of Newgard's favorite songs, Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A.," as well as "Battle Hymn of the Republic" filled St. James during the service.

Outside the church, members of the Patriot Guard Riders stood with American flags as Newgard's casket was carried out.

The group had been called to help buffer the family from a group of protesters from a Kansas church who picket the funerals of service members because they believe the U.S. supports homosexuality. They never came, apparently having been snowed in. But the Patriot Guard arrived with an army of nearly 100 to honor Newgard as he heads on his final journey.

Newgard loved to travel and would take his family on car trips under the guise of saying the destination was only 50 miles away.

"If you're looking for Will, if you're looking to find him, he's about 50 miles that way," Hearne said, gesturing toward the sky.

From the Herald

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