We shall meet but we shall miss him.

While we breathe our ev'ning prayer.

— The Vacant Chair

Three volleys of rifle fire ripped through the springtime silence of West Mahoning Street in Danville on Saturday, May 10. The officers and men of Company K, 81st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry bade farewell to their friend and comrade, Corporal Donald "Mike" Wagner.

Mike fought a long, withering battle against cholangial cancer, a rare form of cancer that doctors predicted would take Mike's life much earlier than it did. Mike, determined to see his only son Patrick graduate from high school in June, pressed on with his treatment, in the face of increasing weakness and significant weight loss. Mike's body gave out before graduation came, but he lived to see Patrick star in a production of "The Sound of Music."

The presence of so many Civil War re-enactors at Mike's farewell was a testament to his boundless love of history. When I first visited him in the hospital in July 2007, Civil War magazines lay on his bed. When our families went out to dinner together in January 2008, we spoke of reenactments and our favorite Civil War books. In my last visit with Mike at his home 10 days before he died, we spoke of visiting schools in our Civil War uniforms, and how important it was for teachers to prepare students for our appearances.

Asked to officiate at Mike's service, I agreed, knowing full well that everyone's emotions, including my own, would be raw. When I saw Sgt. Ted Dombroski of Company K, a mountain of a man who looks as if he walked straight off the pages of a history book, wiping tears from his eyes, I felt my own composure give way. When Mike's company commander stood smartly at attention and delivered a last salute to Mike, I could not turn to look at the gathering, for I knew there was not a dry eye to be found.

I found it delightful and uplifting that many of Mike's family, friends, and co-workers from the Danville State Hospital found the courage to stand up and share humorous memories of Mike during the service. Mike loved to laugh, especially at himself, and the story of Corporal Wagner grumbling about his britches while on a march with Company K will always bring a smile to my face.

One of Mike's favorite reenactments was the Battle of Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley. The members of Company K bought a dramatic painting of the battle for Mike, signed it, and had it framed for him, intending to present it to him on May 8. Sadly, Mike died the day before, but the beautiful and generous gift from his comrades hung on a wall in the funeral home while we celebrated Mike's life.

The guns are now silent, and the echo of Taps has faded. While Mike's life on earth is over, we who knew him move forward with the faith that we will see him again. For now, we say, "Goodbye, farewell, and amen."

• John Deppen, of Northumberland, is the Senior Vice Commander of Camp #15 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. He can be reached at GeneralWSH@aol.com.