Jessie Davila - OurWarHeroes.org - Tribute sites by Q Madp

Jessie Davila

Greensburg, Kansas

February 20, 2006

Age

Military

Rank

Unit/Location

Army

Sgt

Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 137th Infantry

Lawrence, Kansas

Killed in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

GREENSBURG - Davila, Sergeant Jessie, 29, died Monday, Feb. 20, 2006 in Baghdad, Iraq. He was born July 15, 1976 in Raymondville, TX, the son of Santiago Jacob and Clara Munoz Davila. Jessie graduated from Greensburg High School in 1995. He had lived in Greensburg since 1982. Jessie served in the United States Marine Corps where he was stationed overseas in the Middle East. He returned to Greensburg from 1999 to 2004 before moving to Jetmore until November 15, 2005, when he was called in to active duty with the Army Reserves National Guard, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 137th Infantry. Jessie is survived by his father; his mother Clara, Raymondville, TX; daughter Sydney Katherine Davila, Wichita; step-mother Linda Klaus, Dodge City; brother Jacob Davila, Pasadena, TX; sister Rose Allphin, Great Bend; paternal grandmother Maria Luisa Davila, Edinburg, TX; step grandfather Andrew Klaus, Hays; fiancYvette Goff, Jetmore; several aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews. Memorial services will be held 10 a.m. Saturday, March 4, at the Greensburg High School Gymnasium, Greensburg, with Rev. Jeffrey Blackburn presiding. A 2 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial at the Cathedral Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, Dodge City, will follow with Fr, Ted Skalsky presiding. Burial will follow in the Kansas Veterans Cemetery at Fort Dodge, Fort Dodge, KS. Friends may call at Fleener Funeral Chapel 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, followed by a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. led by Fr. Gregory LeBlanc. Memorials are suggested to the Upward Strivers 4-H Club, The Triangle Rodeo Club and St. Joseph Catholic Church, all of Greensburg and the B-29 Museum of Pratt, all in care of Fleener Funeral Home, PO Box 763, Greensburg.
Published in The Wichita Eagle on Feb. 28, 2006

Patriot Guard Riders Honoring Sgt Davila March 4, 2006 Photos submitted by PGR Stretchnit

From cable News Network CNN.com 03/07/06:

Dodge City showdown at funeral
By Ed Lavandera
CNN

Tuesday, March 7, 2006; Posted: 9:48 a.m. EST (14:48 GMT)

DODGE CITY, Kansas (CNN) -- This past Saturday morning I found myself in a five-car caravan cutting across the Kansas plains with about 30 religious protesters. In the back of a truck, there were signs that read "Thank God for IED's" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."

I was with the Phelps family. They've launched a disturbing campaign to tarnish the funerals of fallen soldiers.

This is a painful drama playing out at dozens of military funerals across the country. The group is led by Fred Phelps.

He and his family have picketed and heckled military families at more than 100 funerals since June. They say the soldiers are fighting for an army that represents a country that accepts homosexuality. (Watch how protesters targeted the funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq -- 7:08)

I have spent a great deal of time in the last few weeks tracking the movements of Fred Phelps and his family. Saturday, I followed him and his family from their home in Topeka, Kansas, to a funeral in Dodge City, Kansas.

Fred Phelps is the pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka. The congregation is made up mostly of his family. Phelps has 13 children, 54 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

He describes himself as an "old-time" gospel preacher who says, "You can't preach the Bible without preaching the hatred of God."

Phelps and his family have made a name for themselves by showing up at high-profile events preaching their hate-filled brand of Christianity. They blame homosexuals for the destruction of America.

This past weekend's target was Army Sgt. Jessie Davila.

Davila was killed February 20 in Iraq by a suicide bomber. He served as a Marine after graduating from high school. He returned to civilian life, and had a daughter. But he was always a soldier at heart, so two years ago he joined the Army National Guard and was three months into an Iraqi deployment when he was killed.

This is also very much a story about another phenomenon the Phelps protest has created. That's the birth of a group called the "Patriot Guard Riders." They're a volunteer group that came together after hearing that so many military families were being blindsided by the protesters. (Watch bikers ride to protect a funeral -- 2:11)

More than 400 motorcycles thundered toward this showdown in Dodge City this weekend to make sure Sgt. Jessie Davila's funeral was not overshadowed by the Phelps protest. They converged from small towns all over southwest Kansas to support Sgt. Davila's family. One group leader says, "I knew we would have a crowd, but I didn't know it would be this big."

The procession of rolling thunder escorted Davila's family from memorial services to the grave site on a quiet hill.

In the end, Sgt. Davila's family says they were only able to hear a little bit of the Phelps protest. Davila's mother, Linda Claus, says she's grateful for the Patriot Guard Riders. But she also wants other military families to be aware that this could happen to them.

"When people begin to know what they're (Fred Phelps' family) really doing -- killing the American Dream -- they won't be around very long, because nobody's going to let them. They'll drown them out. They'll be gone," Claus said.

Since CNN started airing reports on these funeral confrontations a few weeks ago, the Patriot Guard Riders say its membership has almost tripled. And more than a dozen states are now considering legislation that would restrict protesting at funerals.

The Phelps family vows to continue these protests. They might be outnumbered, but the way the Patriot Guard Riders see it, it only takes one of them to dishonor the memory of a fallen soldier.