Final Journey
Before he shipped out, Anderson left specific instructions for his funeral arrangements if he didn't make it home. He wanted to be cremated, and he wanted to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
11/10/05
By Pat van den Beemt
Motorists along the 75-mile route from Hereford to Arlington, Va., watched solemnly from their stopped vehicles as the funeral procession for Lance Cpl. Norman W. Anderson III passed by on the morning of Nov. 1.
Highway entrance ramps were temporarily closed. Some cars already on the roadway pulled to the side. Others switched lanes to allow the motorcade to pass.
Two columns of motorcycles flashed red and blue lights as more than a dozen police officers cleared the way for a hearse, two buses and a long line of cars.
"I wonder if they think this is for some sort of dignitary," Cyndi Hafele asked as she watched stopped traffic from inside the first bus.
Anderson, a 21-year-old Marine, was killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq Oct. 19. The 2002 Hereford High School football player had married Tori Worthing of Monkton this summer, a few weeks before he was deployed to Iraq.
Before he shipped out, Anderson left specific instructions for his funeral arrangements if he didn't make it home. He wanted to be cremated, and he wanted to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
On Nov. 1, Anderson's wishes were honored. He joined the 300,000 men and women who are buried at Arlington. His funeral was the 20th of 29 funerals that day.
More than 150 people in the buses and cars followed the hearse carrying Anderson's remains to Arlington.
The sight of acres of white marble headstones in perfect lines silenced the low hum of conversation on the bus carrying the Anderson and Worthing families.
Since the police escort accelerated the trip, the group had about 90 minutes to wait near the Visitors' Center before the funeral began. People talked in clusters or simply stood outside in the warm November sun.
There were relatives like Matthew Bauer who traveled from South Africa to say goodbye to his cousin. Like many in the Anderson family - including Norman Anderson's father and grandfather - Bauer served in the military.
After graduating from Hereford High in 1998, Bauer joined the Marines. He was stationed in South Africa, met and married a South African woman and now lives there.
"As soon as we heard about Norm, we looked into the logistics of coming home," he said. "There was no way I was not going to be here today."
Others, like Reb Scavone of Freeland, didn't know the Andersons or the Worthings. He said he wanted to attend the funeral to pay tribute to a brave man who gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country.
Michael Newmeyer, owner of Michael's Pizza, was there to pay his respects, too. He knows Norman Anderson's older sister, Brooke, who once worked at his pizza shop on York Road in Maryland Line.
Four Hereford High students, members of the For Our Troops Club, left school early to go to Arlington. Their club sends packages and letters to servicemen and women who have a Hereford High connection and are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Tori Anderson had helped the club with a fundraiser earlier this year. She showed up at Hereford High the day after her husband's death.
"She came to our club meeting and told us how much the soldiers appreciated what we were doing," said president Courtney Sullins. "We couldn't believe she came to school to talk to us. Everybody was crying, but she kept saying she wanted to be there, to tell us to keep sending things to the soldiers."
Service and sacrifice
The wait was finally over at 1:45 p.m., when people boarded the buses and got in their cars for the slow drive to Anderson's final resting place. As the crowd watched, two Marines carefully placed an engraved wooden box containing Anderson's ashes on a small table next to his gravesite. They joined four other Marines in unfolding an American flag and holding it over the box during the service.
"The nation and the Corps will remember Lance Cpl. Anderson for his service and sacrifice," a Marine chaplain told the mourners.
The six Marines then ceremoniously folded the American flag. Master Sgt. Leonard Cloud presented it to Anderson's widow. Capt. Ed Caricato gave another to Anderson's mother, Robyn.
Many in the crowd flinched when the first volley of shots was fired by seven Marines off in the distance. The men fired three times in precision for the 21-gun salute.
As feather-shaped leaves from a willow oak floated down on the mourners, a lone Marine played "Taps" on a bugle. He stood off to the side, away from the gravesite, so most people weren't aware of his presence until the first notes of the heart-tugging tune filled the air.
After the 15-minute ceremony, people went back to the buses and cars to give Anderson's parents, sister and widow a chance for a private farewell.
Tori Anderson knelt in front of the wooden box containing her husband's ashes and gently touched it.
As she and Robyn Anderson slowly made their way to the buses, they clutched their American flags to their chests.
The bus containing the Anderson and Worthing families and friends was soundless as they left Arlington National Cemetery. Row after row of family members and friends stared out the windows, lost in thought.
Shared memories
But as the bus gathered speed and headed toward North County, the atmosphere lightened. It had been a long day. People were hungry and thirsty.
Coolers with soda, water, beer and wine appeared. Boxes of chips and peanuts were passed from seat to seat.
People started moving along the aisles. People started talking. People started laughing.
Tori Anderson told stories about her high school days with Norm, how teachers separated them if they were having a spat but let them sit next to each other if they were having a good day.
The two mothers, Bernadette Worthing and Robyn Anderson, sat next to each other and chatted.
Norm's father, Norman Anderson II, moved to the back of the bus, where there was a rumor about an open bottle of Irish whiskey.
Just before the procession arrived back in Hereford, Bob Vogel, a longtime friend of the Andersons, got everybody's attention.
"I raise my glass to Norm, a hero who always had a smile on his face," he said. The others responded by raising their glasses, cans, bottles or empty hands into the air and called out, in unison, "To Norm."
E-mail Pat van den Beemt at Pat van den Beemt@patuxent.com
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