Community honors fallen soldier

By Rob Scott
The Daily Item

August 11, 2008 12:54 am

— FREEBURG — About a quarter of this borough’s population turned out to honor fallen soldier Pfc. Justin Dreese Sunday afternoon.
Mayor Fred Moyer said between 125-150 people attended a dedication ceremony at Freeburg Community Park for Dreese, who was killed by mortar fire 2 years ago in Iraq.
Moyer said many of the people who donated their time to work on the park over the past several months attended
Also attending were state representatives Russ Fairchild, R-85, of Lewisburg, and Merle Phillips, R-108, of RR2 Sunbury, and state Sen. John Gordner, R-27 of Berwick.
Several soldiers who served with Dreese came up from Fort Bragg in North Carolina to speak as well, including Staff Sgt. Carlton Brewington, Dreese’s squad leader in Iraq.
“To me, he was a very energetic person, a very caring person,” said Brewington. “At times, I found him motivating me.
“The biggest thing that touches me is, when someone dies everyone says nice things about them. Everybody’s got good things to say about Justin and it’s all true.”
Sgt. Brian Myers, who served with Dreese for 2 years first in Afghanistan and then Iraq, said he was impressed by the turnout from such a small community.
“I didn’t expect that big a turnout,” Myers said. “That’s definitely an encouragement that people still support (the troops) ... It kind of reiterates that.”
Moyer said a plaque was placed in the park, dedicating it as the Justin Dreese Memorial Park.
The mayor said he was concerned the weather wouldn’t cooperate, with forecasters calling for thunderstorms during the day Sunday.
“We were so lucky,” he said afterward.
But Myers believes luck may not have had anything to do with it.
“I kind of thought Justin may have had something to do with that,” he said.
n E-mail comments to rscott@dailyitem.com.

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