More than than 200 people — dignitaries, public officials, family, friends and veterans — stood in silence this morning at the Greenwood-Leflore Airport, awaiting the arrival of the body of U.S. Army Pfc. Patricia Horne.
Horne, 20, a member of the 96th Aviation Support Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, died in Afghanistan on Aug. 24.
She was a 2010 graduate of Greenwood High School.
Her funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Providence Missionary Baptist Church.
Burial will be in Hudson Park Cemetery following the services. A repast will be held afterward at the Mississippi Guard armory on Sycamore Avenue.
Horne’s flag-draped casket was unloaded from a private charter jet, which was met by an Army honor guard. Once the casket was loaded into a hearse, the funeral procession of more than 20 vehicles, including a Greenwood fire engine, made the journey to Century Funeral Home.
Brig. Gen. William B. Hickman, deputy commander of the 101st Division, was at the airport to console the family.
“I just told the mother, the Army is with the family. This is a bond forever. We’re here to take care of the family, to be with the family,” he said.
Hickman will remain until Saturday’s funeral.
Retired Staff Sgt. Glenda Cole, a former member of the 173rd Engineering Battalion of the U.S. Army Reserve and a veteran of the first Gulf War, said she was there to show her support for Horne and her sacrifice.
“It means a lot,” she said.
The 173rd was formerly stationed near the airport.
Cole, now a security officer at Amanda Elzy High School, was accompanied this morning by the school’s principal, Jacqueline Boyd.
Boyd, who was a sergeant in the 1991 Gulf War, said, “Any time you have a fallen comrade, you want to come out and support them and their families. We just had to be here.”
James Chapman of Southaven, Mississippi commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, was also there to pay his respects. He has plenty of experience attending homecomings for fallen soldiers.
“I go to several every year,” he said.
The VFW is asking Mississippi residents to fly their American flags at half-staff this weekend.
Ray Blanchard, the state VFW’s assistant public relations officer in Wiggins, said Saturday’s tribute would be in honor of Horne, and Sunday’s would be in honor of her family.
“Most of our veterans are Vietnam veterans,” said Blanchard, a retired first sergeant in the Army who served during both the Korean and Vietnam wars. “When we got back, we were not recognized like we should have been, or we thought we should have been. We would like that to change for our soldiers today.”
Flying the flag “is our way of showing them that we respect what they do and we will support them whatever happens,” he said.
Terry Fields, an Army veteran from Greenwood, said he came to support a fallen comrade. He didn’t know Horne or her family personally, but that didn’t matter, he said.
“It’s an honor to honor somebody that gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have today,” he said.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
