A community honors its fallen hero

ADVANCE, Mo. - The life of Spc. James R. Burnett, Jr., the Brownwood soldier killed in action in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan on Nov. 16, was celebrated Saturday and Sunday as a community came together to honor the 21-year-old's ultimate sacrifice for his country.

In Poplar Bluff, Gov. Jay Nixon met the plane carrying the remains of the first Stoddard County native to lose his life in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Burnett was killed by an IED as his Army Stryker vehicle led a convoy through the war-torn area.

Family of the Brownwood hometown hero gathered at the rural Community Church of Christ in Lowndes, Mo. Saturday. The church is the home church of the soldier's mother, Rebecca Metcalf, who now resides with her husband and family in Wichita, Kan.

Spc. James R. Burnett, Jr. 1990 - 2011

Attendees at the church were met by a strong presence of the Patriot Guard Riders, a motorcycle group formed in recent years to ward off the threat of military funeral protesters. The group, numbering nearly 50 strong, lined the way to the funeral service in Saturday's rain for nearly two hours, keeping watch in a solemn stand of unity outside the country church.

The Patriot Riders were also present for Sunday's observances held in the city of Advance, first at a dinner held at the Methodist Church of Advance, where the Burnett family attends services. Following the dinner, the public was invited to visit with the family of James Burnett, Jr. until 5 p.m. at the Advance High School gym, at which time family members and the fiancé of the fallen soldier, Amy Keeler, were on hand to receive those who wished to honor the memory of their loved one.

Following a recitation of a poem entitled, "When I'm Gone," by a friend of the Burnett family, Sherry Burnett, step-mother of James Burnett, Jr., addressed the packed gym, expressing the family's gratitude for the many ways in which their son has been honored since news came on Nov. 17 of his death.

Spc. James Burnett, Jr., said his step-mother, "was a peacemaker. He lived every day as if it were his last."

"I don't believe he left behind any regrets or any words left unsaid," she told the audience of friends, family, and members of the Advance and Brownwood communities.

"November 16 will forever be remembered as the day our hero was deployed to heaven," Sherry Burnett said. "He will forever be in our thoughts. His memory will live on in our minds forever. We will always love him, and we will always be very proud of him."

Following his step-mother's brief presentation, a diminutive Amy Keeler stepped to the podium, and in an emotional tribute to first the families of James Burnett and then to her late fiancé, told the audience, "James would have made an amazing husband, and an even more amazing father.

"James served his country as proudly as anyone could have done. We cannot be upset with him for the decision he made to serve. He did that for all of us."

A tearful Keeler concluded by saying that James Burnett left the world "in the most honorable" manner possible. "He is a hero," she said.

Concluding Sunday's program was a bagpipe and drum rendition of "Amazing Grace," presented by the four-member Cape Girardeau Fire Dept. Pipes and Drums Corps.