Tuesday, August 12, 2008
By MARSHA DORGAN
Register Staff Writer
U.S. Army Pfc. Jennifer Cole was scheduled to arrive in Napa on Monday for an 18-day leave from her duties in war-torn Iraq.
Instead, her family buried her in a traditional military ceremony in the wake of Cole’s Aug. 2 death in a non-combat incident in Bayji, Iraq.
On Monday morning, family, friends and Army personnel packed the Cornerstone Ministries church in north Napa to bid farewell to the fallen soldier.
Cole’s mother, Candy Gholson, father James Cole Jr., stepfather and former American Canyon Mayor Rick Mahanay, brothers Jeff, James and Joey Cole as well as other family members sat quietly in the front pew of the church.
The flag-draped casket where Cole lay in full military dress was directly in front of them. They held one another for support and comfort.
U.S. Army Brigadier General Charles Ebner, deputy commander with the 63rd Regional Readiness Command, honored Cole’s military career by giving her mother, father and stepfather several Army commendation medals Cole had earned.
A parade of motorcycles with American flags waving from the back fenders, driven by volunteers from the Patriot Guard Riders and California State Honor Guard, provided an escort for the hearse and family limousine from the church to Tulocay Cemetery.
Six military honor guards carried the casket to the cemetery plot as a bagpipe played in the background.
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