Fallen soldier's body returns to Hattiesburg

[k98nights]

Hattiesburg American • May 7, 2010

As the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of Sgt. Anthony Magee made its way down Hutchison Avenue today, Hattiesburg High School teachers, students and the community paused to pay respect to a hometown hero.

Magee, 29, of Hattiesburg, was injured April 24 when enemy forces attacked his unit in Iskandariyah, Iraq, according to the Department of Defense. He died April 27 at a hospital in Germany.

Magee graduated from the school in 2000. His father, Tony Davis, is the chief of resource officers for the Hattiesburg Public School district.

Emma R. Pope was Magee’s third-grade teacher. She was one of the first to arrive to get a glimpse of the processional on its way to Hall’s-Fairley Mortuary.

“I knew his father and would ask about him from time to time,” she said. “He was a respectable child in school. I’m paying my respect to the family.”

Holding a red, white and blue handmade sign that read “God bless you,” 10th-grader Walter Johnson made his way along the street before the processional started.

“We’re here today to support Chief Davis and his family,” he said.

Visitation is from 6-8 p.m. today at Hall's-Fairley Mortuary. Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Shady Grove Baptist Church, with burial in Venia Park in Collins.

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100507/NEWS/100507012/Soldier+s+body+returns+to+Miss.

[Boscosmom]

Thanks for posting, Woody. Our prayers go out to this hero's family. May God comfort them.

[misty]

Thanks for the post and I will pray for his family and friends. Anthony is a true hero.