Fallen Merrillville guardsman comes home; procession passes school
By Carrie Napoleon Post-Tribune correspondent January 16, 2012 3:21PM
An American flag is held aloft by students at Hammond Baptist schools campus as they wait for the funeral procession of Sgt. Brian Leonhardt Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. Leonhardt, a graduate of HBS high school, was killed by a roadside bomb Jan. 6 while serving with the Indiana National Guard in Afghanistan. | Andy Lavalley~Sun-Times Media
At a glance
Visitation will take place 2-8 p.m. Tuesday at Memory Lane Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 6305 W. Lincoln Highway, Schererville. The funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church of Hammond, 507 State St.
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Updated: February 18, 2012 8:11AM
Those closest to Sgt. Brian Leonhardt Monday wore wristbands, neckties and other accents in neon green — his favorite color — to mark the return home of the fallen soldier.
Leonhardt’s remains arrived at the Gary/Chicago International Airport to a gathering of family and close friends and welcomed by a Indiana National Guard detail and members of the Indiana Patriot Guard, who escorted the soldier and his family from the airport, past his alma mater and to Memory Lane Memorial Park and Funeral Chapel in Schererville, where he will be buried.
Students and staff from Hammond Baptist Schools, from grade school to high school, lined the school’s street with their hands over their hearts waving American flags and holding signs reading “HB is Proud of You” and “Thank You for Your Service” as the procession wound by.
“It’s sad we lost a good member of our school,” said senior Malcolm Toole, 17, of Dyer. Toole helped hold a large American flag as the procession passed. He was a freshman when Leonhardt was a senior and remembers watching the older student play basketball on the high school team.
“It’s great, too, that he died for our country, in service to our country. We honor and respect that sacrifice a lot,” Toole said, who plans to join the Marines when he graduates. He said Leonhardt’s sacrifice serves as an example not a deterrent to his dream.
“I would be willing to die for my country, too,” he said.
Leonhardt, 21, of Merrillville, and three other soldiers were killed Jan. 6 by an improvised explosive device in southern Afghanistan while serving with the Indiana National Guard 713th Engineer Company based in Valparaiso. Also killed in the explosion were Spc. Robert Tauteris Jr., 44, of Hamlet; Spc. Christopher Patterson, 20, of Aurora, Ill., a music student at Valparaiso University; and Staff Sgt. Jonathan M. Metzger, 32, of Indianapolis, a native of Chicago Heights, Ill., who graduated from Rich South High School in Richton Park, Ill.
A fifth soldier, Pvt. Douglas Rachowicz, 29, of Hammond, was injured in the blast. He is recovering from his injuries.
Katie Eikenburg, a student teacher at Hammond Baptist, was one of Leonhardt’s classmates. She and cooking teacher Sandy Moore reminisced as they waiting for the procession.
Eikenburg said he was a friendly student who could be quite funny.
“He was quiet some times, then he could be the class clown,” she recalled.
Moore said it is important for the school to show their support.
“This military honor is so special ... for Brian’s family. I know the family is very proud,” she said.
Students were joined by Leonhardt’s friends and co-workers and community members who wanted to show their support.
Debbie Lakomy, general manager at Bakers Square in Schererville, was among a group of Bakers Square workers who came out to show their support. Leonhardt worked at the restaurant from 2007 until he was deployed and met his wife, Dianne, there.
The co-workers are still working through the shock of Leonhardt’s death.
“He is the first soldier I knew that has died,” Amy Barehead, of Schererville, said as she fought back tears.
“It makes it all too real,” said Janelle Boudreau of Munster.
Lakomy agreed.
“It makes all the worries and little problems I have go away. Nothing is as big as this,” she said.
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