Soldier first to be buried in veterans’ cemetery

BOISE — Army Spc. Brandon Titus, killed by a roadside bomb earlier this month in Iraq, was hailed as a hero and patriot on Monday as he became the first serviceman to be buried in Idaho’s new veterans’ cemetery.

“He loved life, he loved his family, he loved his state, he loved his nation, he loved his God,” Gov. Dirk Kempthorne told the 600 people attending his funeral services at St. Mark’s Catholic Church.

The 20-year-old Boise soldier was killed Aug. 17 when a bomb exploded near his checkpoint in Baghdad. He was the sixth Idaho soldier killed in the war.

In an emotional eulogy, Brandon’s father, Tom Titus, said he watched his son grow up, “and I was always amazed at how you touched others’ lives.”

Titus also read a letter his son wrote, to be opened only upon his death.

“My time has come,” Brandon Titus wrote.

He said he was always against war as a teenager, but following the 2001 terrorism attacks on the East Coast, he decided he was wrong and eventually joined the Army.

“Before I could take all the freedoms and liberty this country has granted, I had to earn them,” he wrote.

He also wanted his father, a decorated Vietnam veteran, to be proud of him.

“I don’t see any greater honor than giving my life for my country, my family and my friends,” Brandon Titus wrote.

The funeral procession included about 200 motorcyclists and stretched more than a mile ahead of the hearse bearing the flag-draped coffin to the cemetery.

Tom Titus had worked with Kempthorne and others to organize the annual “Run to the Wall” motorcycle rally to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Brandon Titus became involved as well.

Seven Army riflemen fired three volleys each before a lone bugler played taps under a clear blue sky and flags that cover the coffin were folded and handed to Titus’ parents.

“Brandon Titus did not become a hero in Iraq,” said the Rev. Steve Rukavina during the 90-minute funeral service. “Brandon Titus became a hero long before that.”

He and others described the soldier as selfless and compassionate, working with youth in his church and offering to help anyone who needed it.

“He took risks for others,” Rukavina said.