TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Iraq Casualty Laid To Rest
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Published: April 8, 2008
BUSHNELL - Army Pfc. P.J. Miller, killed in Baghdad on March 29, was buried with military honors Monday at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
An estimated 200 people had attended the funeral Sunday in Hudson for Miller, 23, a high school honors graduate and football player who was scheduled to take leave in a few weeks to marry his fiancee
Just before 11 a.m. Monday, motorcycles pulled into the cemetery, and Patriot Guard Riders took their spots along the main walkway, U.S. flags in hand.
Heavy fog let up, but the skies remained gray as a black hearse and limo led dozens of cars in the burial procession.
Miller's mother, Kim, his brother, Michael, and his fiancee, Tara Nelson, were escorted on foot by military personnel as family and friends followed behind the casket.
They walked to their chairs for a service led by the Rev. John VanderKaay, chaplain at MacDill Air Force Base.
Awards and flags were presented to Miller's mom, brother and fiancee. Four shots were fired. Taps were played.
A uniformed honor guard walked the casket to the field across the street, where Miller was buried next to a soldier killed last month.
Miller, of the 1st Infantry Division, based at Fort Riley, Kan., was deployed to Iraq in September on his first tour.
He had expected to return to Fort Riley in a few weeks, then take a 30-day leave and marry Nelson, his high school sweetheart.
As Monday's service neared its end, Nelson gripped the flag she was given and handed roses from a bouquet to Miller's mother and brother.
Nelson kissed her rose and tossed it into the open grave, atop Miller's casket.
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