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Support our TroopsThe MansfieldGazette*1.00an edition of The Wellsboro Gazettepercopy[arketplace, 14 pages, one section Mansfield, PA * Wednesday, November 1,2006 The Gazette. 20 pages, two sections (USPS 674-120)Community honors Tioga Countyby Qayle MorrowThere were mourners at Tony Kiiier’s memorial service here yesterday, but no protestors. After rumors that a group planned to use the death of the Sergeant First Class as a venue for their own cause, as they have in other areas of the country and state, the community was prepared with a police presence.In the end, though, it was family and friends, neighbors and strangers, who gathered together to honor the fallen soldier. Knier, a Cowanesque Valley graduate who joined the Army in 1995, was killed in Iraq October 21. He and his wife, Rnbbi Jo, who was from Draper, and their three children lived near Fort Bragg where he was stationed with the 82D Airborne Division.A 3 p.m. service at the Wellsboro Firemen’s Annex on East Avenue followed a private family service at Carleton’s Funeral Home. By 1 p.m., people were beginning to line East Avenue, some waving flags, others just waiting, watching as the afternoon sky grew grayer and the wind picked up, all taking a few minutes out of their busy lives to pay respects to a warrior, regardless of their feelings on the war.Sherry Horn came up from Williamsport to stand and wait for Knier and his family to arrive.“My family is military,” she said, adding she just thought she ought to be here.Penny Potter came over fromWestfield to hold a “Thank you • Tony sign; Brenda Thomas and Tammy Casher closed Nature’s Valley natural food store to Btand on East Avenue with flags; Kristen Hauser, and husband, Justin, each had the corner of a good-sized flag while their son, Austin, held up tne middle.“I was friends with Tony’s wife in high school,” KriBten Hauser said; “I just feel for her.”Inside the annex, Chaplain P. Dudley Neal spoke about how “death in its untimely wav” hadTONY KNIER'S FELLOW SOLDIERS look part In a memorial service Iraq October 21.• photo by QAYLC MORROWin Wellsboro on Tuesday. Knier, with the 82nd Airborne, was killed Income to dwell among those present, and how “we gather here with his family... to put our arms around you, to say ‘you matter to us.’” Knier mattered, too, especially to the men with whom he served. “I’d follow this guy anywhere,” said one who was with Knier in Ranger School. “In basic training I was so scared,” reflected another. Knier, though, helped him through. “He set the standard.” “He loved his platoon and they love him.” “Tonywas hot only a soldier, but I’d like to think of him as a friend.” “It ties your stomach up in knots and leaves an empty space inside.” Knier’s mother, Betty Tidwell, shared a poem’she wrote about her son, and talked about the timefBradford, it is the sixth funeral in the same amount of time.Tony Knier’s obituary is on page 6. See page 12-A for more photos.he came to visit her in Kentucky. They went to the races and “had the most terrific time together.” She also shared a song that was one of Knier’s favorites, a melancholy country tune about a soldier who said “goodbye to Mom and Dad and hello to Uncle Sam,” and who was “every day ... thankful just to be alive.Outside, from the annex parking lot, was the occasional sound of voices as one young lady tried tokeep Tony and Bobbi Jo’s, youngest child, 2-year-old Kalie, entertained. A line of people with flags stood near the entrance - they call themselves the Patriot Guard Riders. David Cullen, from Salamanca, N.Y., said they come on their motorcycles to military funerals “to show our respect, to honor the fallen, and help support the families.”“We call this a mission,” he said.The group has about 60,000 members across the country. The group in Wellsboro on Tuesday had local riders as well as somefrom HarriBburg, Bradford, and Williamsport.“This is my fifth one (funeral) in nine days,” Cullen said. For another man, a member fromServiceTony SFC Tony Knier enlisted in the Army in July 1995. He attended One Station Unit Training at Ft. Banning, Georgia, Where-he was awaHedtheMOS of the T1H, Anti-ArmdrCrew'member. During his 11 years in the Army, he held every position in his MOS - driver, gunner, squad and section leader, and platoon sergeant. SFC Knier spent three years as a drill instructor teaching new recruits at Ft. Benning. His assignments also includedFt. Polk, LA; Ft. Campbell, KY; and Ft. Bragg, NC. His awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Commendation Medal with one OakAmy Aijhifevfe-ment Med4! with SjjyprOakDeqf Cluster, the Good Conduct Medalwith threb knots, the National Defense Service Medal second award, the Iraqi C ampaign Medal, the Global War oh Terrorism Service Medal, Non-Comims-sioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon with Roman Numeral 3, the Drill Sergeant Badge, the Combat InfantrymanBadge, the expert Infantryman Badge, the Air Assault Badge, the Senior Parachutist Badge, and the Ranger Tab.
Newspaper Details
Wellsboro Gazette
Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, US
Wed, Nov 01, 2006
Page 33
Full Page
Clipped by
Fred Y.
NA, 15 Oct 2018
Other Publications Near Wellsboro, Pennsylvania
Wellsboro Gazette
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Bradford County Republican
Tioga County Agitator
