Bruce Horner remembered

At the end of a short phone conversation on May 30, Erin Horner thanked Army Sgt. Bruce Edward Horner for choosing her as his wife.

"Bruce," Erin recalled saying to him, "I can't tell you what an honor it is to be in your life. It hurts how much I miss you, how much I love you."

The 43-year-old soldier from Newport News died two days later when he was shot by a sniper in Baghdad.

"To be a widow at 32 is mind-blowing," Erin said Tuesday. "When you open up your door and see two men in Class A (dress uniforms), you literally stop breathing."

In looking back on that last phone conversation, though, Erin doesn't get teary.

"I didn't see it as a foreshadowing of events to come," she said. "I can honestly say I have no regrets because I always told him how I felt."

Especially in the days following Sgt. Horner's November deployment to Iraq with the Germany-based 127th Military Police Company.

"You learn how important it is to verbalize your emotions, your feelings," Erin said. "While he was gone, we were as close as we had ever been. You talk because you can't touch."

The Horners married four years ago - bypassing months of wedding plans - at an intimate ceremony on the beach. Erin planned the event in less than 36 hours.

"I'm glad we did it that way," she said. "I knew as soon as I met him he was the man I would marry."

Sgt. Horner had a love for God that Erin respected. His heart, she said, was as large as his 6-foot-4-inch body.

"And he was so good-natured that even when he did something silly, you couldn't get mad at him," Erin said laughing. "He always had good intentions. He always wanted to help people."

That's partly what led him to the military, she said.

Sgt. Horner is originally from Ohio, where his parents still live.

Eighteen years ago, he enlisted in the Army, Erin said. Twelve years ago, he moved to the Peninsula.

"He called this home," Erin said. "Our friends are here. Our church family is here."

And Erin - a Williamsburg native who graduated from Lafayette High School in 1993 - was here.

When his first enlistment was up, Sgt. Horner went into the Army Reserves. Recently, he opted to rejoin the active-duty Army.

"He went back to the military to serve God," Erin said. "He was a (military policeman) but had plans to become a chaplain's assistant."

Last summer, Sgt. Horner received orders to move to Germany - Erin moved with him - and in November, he shipped out to Iraq.

"When he got to Iraq, he said he knew God wanted him to be there," Erin said. "He said he never felt closer to God than when he was in Iraq."

His job was to help train the new Iraqi police force.

"He said (Iraq) was very dirty, very poor, a very sad state," Erin said. "He said there were very nice people who were living in a constant state of fear. He wanted to make a difference."

Erin knows he did.

In the days since his death, she's received phone calls from several of his comrades.

"They tell me what Bruce did for them, what he meant to them."

Erin's faith is just as strong as her husband's. It's that faith, she said, that's keeping her strong, pushing her through the pain. "My flesh hurts, but my spirit knows where he is."

And that's comforting, she said.

"It's like I have a direct connection to him now. I don't have to wait for him to call from Iraq or send me an e-mail."

Sgt. Horner's funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Olivet Christian Church in Newport News.

He will then be buried with full military honors in Peninsula Memorial Park.

"It will be a celebration," Erin said. "I want people to tell funny stories and remember him. That's what Bruce wanted. He didn't want anyone to cry at his funeral. He wants us to laugh."

From the Daily Press

Related Link:
Bruce E. Horner dies 'of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire'