Leonhardt remembered for love of military experience
By Carrie Napoleon Post-Tribune correspondent January 18, 2012 5:14PM
An honor guard carries the casket as Dianne Leonhardt is escorted following behind during the funeral service for Sgt. Brian Leonhardt at First Baptist Church in Hammond, Ind. Wednesday January 18, 2012. Leonhardt was one of four members of the Valparaiso-based Indiana National Guard 713th Engineer Company killed when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 21, 2012 8:25AM
HAMMOND — Mourners numbering around 2,000 packed First Baptist Church to near capacity to bid a final farewell to Sgt. Brian Leonhardt.
“He was too young, too big, too everything,” an emotional Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umburger, Indiana National Guard adjutant general, said Wednesday after reading stories from members of Leonhardt’s unit that depicted a motivated leader who loved what he was doing and had fun doing it.
Leonhardt, 21, and three other members of the Indiana National Guard 713th Engineer Company 81st Troop Command out of Valparaiso — Spc. Robert Tauteris Jr., 44, of Hamlet; Christopher Patterson, 20, of North Aurora, Ill., a music student at Valparaiso University; and Staff Sgt. Jonathan Metzger, 32 of Indianapolis — were killed Jan. 6 by a roadside bomb while performing their duties clearing a road of explosives.
Umburger and Gov. Mitch Daniels attended the funeral service and spoke in honor of the fallen soldier during a service rich in military ceremony and touching moments.
Nobody is in harm’s way more often than the combat engineer, the first soldiers to hit the ground in a hostile place to clear the road before even the infantry makes its move, Umburger said.
“Sgt. Brian Leonhardt is a hero in every sense of the word,” Umburger said.
Daniels said speaking at a soldier’s funeral is one of his most important duties as governor and one he takes seriously.
“Ours is a state of patriotism,” Daniels said. Indiana residents are not shy about showing their support for the troops or in honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. All of Indiana mourns for the four soldiers from the 713th Engineering Company who lost their lives that day.
Fred Mooney, Brian’s high school basketball coach and freshman Sunday school teacher, said that while Leonhardt followed in his three older brothers’ footsteps in joining the military, it was something he did because it was his dream.
“Brian really wanted to be a soldier,” Mooney said. The man who was a mentor to the young Leonhardt shared excerpts from a letter he received from the soldier as he wrapped up basic training. In the letter Leonhardt describes the training exercises and their impact on him.
“Honestly, this is like the best summer vacation I ever had,” Mooney said Leonhardt wrote. The statement, he said, sums up Leonhardt’s passion for the military.
“Brian loved his military uniform and the country it represents, and he wore it proudly,” Mooney said.
The Rev. Jack Schaap said Leonhardt and the thousands of soldiers like him over the years died protecting what Americans take for granted every day and would not have without their sacrifice.
“This one life, though very short, counted for something significant. He died a hero purchasing our freedom with the only price that purchases freedom, blood,” Schaap said.
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