"Family" mourns local veterans
| Friday, Sep 25 2009 06:07 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Oct 03 2009 07:56 PM
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Michael Fagans / The Californian Members of Friends of Fallen Heroes Support Committee, the American Legion Riders, and the Patriot Guard Riders salute as Airforce Staff Sgt. Vincent Barrett's flag-draped coffin is carried to a shelter at the start of funeral services at the Bakersfield National Cememtery on Friday afternoon.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Boomer Montgomery, left, Don Ward and Mitch Benton, members of the Patriot Guard Riders, pay their resepcts as the flag-draped coffin of Air Force Staff Sgt. Vincent Barrett is carried in at the beginning of funeral services for two veterans at Bakersfield National Cemetery on Friday afternoon.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood accepts the flag that accompanied Air Force Airman 2nd Class Ronald Axtell's remains from Staff Sgt. Fredrick Meadows during a funeral service at the Bakersfield National Cemetery on Friday afternoon. The sheriff told service attendees that Axtell was "Indigent, but not forgotten."
Michael Fagans / The Californian Members of Friends of Fallen Heroes Support Committee, the American Legion Riders, and the Patriot Guard Riders salute as Airforce Staff Sgt. Vincent Barrett's flag-draped coffin is carried to a shelter at the start of funeral services at the Bakersfield National Cememtery on Friday afternoon.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Lynn Sprayberry, chair of the Friends of Fallen Hereos Support Committee, accepts the flag that covered Air Force Staff Sgt. Vincent Barrett's coffin from Staff Sgt. Fredrick Meadows during a funeral service at the Bakersfield National Cemetery on Friday afternoon.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Boomer Montgomery, left, Don Ward and Mitch Benton, members of the Patriot Guard Riders, pay their resepcts as the flag-draped coffin of Air Force Staff Sgt. Vincent Barrett is carried in at the beginning of funeral services for two veterans at Bakersfield National Cemetery on Friday afternoon.
Bakersfield may have its vices, but it also has its virtues.
When word spread through the community this week that two deceased military veterans would be laid to rest Friday afternoon with no family in attendance to say a last goodbye, Bakersfield got busy.
By mid-week, dozens of people -- virtual strangers to Air Force veterans Vincent Barrett and Ronald Axtell -- were expected to attend.
By Friday, the list of mourners had grown from dozens to hundreds, with one Bakersfield business offering free rides in a 30-passenger limousine-style bus to the national cemetery east of town.
And when a long line of cars and motorcycles began pouring through the cemetery gates Friday, it became abundantly clear that family had come to pay their respects after all.
"They served for me, so I'm willing to come here and stand for them," said Carol O'Rand, a local member of Daughters of the American Revolution.
"We are all their family," O'Rand said. "Their American family."
Even as the intense heat bore down on the crowd, people remained quiet and solemn as the California State Honor Guard fired two rifle salutes and precisely folded two American flags to present to stand-ins for immediate family.
One of those stand-ins was Lynn Sprayberry, a Kern County mother who was presented with a folded flag in 2004 after Army Staff Sgt. Marvin Sprayberry III lost his life in Iraq. As a member of Friends of Fallen Heroes, Sprayberry is adamant that no member of the armed forces, past or present, will have a funeral that is unattended.
Friday's services were short. But for a few brief moments, close to 200 strangers seemed like old friends or family of the deceased.
As the solemn notes of taps echoed across the oak-dotted hills, some women fought back tears, while men hardened their jaws in stoic response.
"I think they deserve a few hours of our time," Bakersfield resident Robert P. Ortiz said of the two Air Force veterans. "That's why I'm here."
Barrett, a longtime resident of Ridgecrest, was 72 when he died. He served in the Air Force from 1954 to 1966, and later served as a police officer with the China Lake Police Department.
He was the recipient of one, and possibly two, purple hearts, although information gleaned by the Kern County coroner's office and others remains sketchy regarding the details of his military service.
Axtell, of Bakersfield, served in the Air Force from 1957 to 1961. Few details of his life have emerged, except that parts of his life appear to have been marked by difficulty.
He was described as indigent, meaning he had insufficient funds to cover funeral costs, and his remains might have been destined for an unmarked grave had officials not learned of his military service.
Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, who accepted the flag at Axtell's service, said the veteran airman was "indigent, but not forgotten."
Family rarely is.
