Patriotism, military tradition runs deep in rural America

Wednesday, February 21, 2007 11:40 AM PST

Editor’s note: THis is the second part of a four-part series that will print this week in the Argus Observer.

KIMBERLY HEFLING

Associated Press

MCKEESPORT, Pa. — Military tradition and patriotism run deep in rural America, and for some the drive to serve goes well beyond economics. Sometimes, the call is something even their parents don’t completely understand.

When a Marine recruiter came to Ryan Kovacicek’s two-story house outside Washington, Pa., off a mountain rural road surrounded by cattle pastures, his father, a Marine veteran of Vietnam, turned to his college student son and said, ‘‘You don’t really understand what you’re getting into.’’

ADVERTISEMENT

‘‘Yes, I do,’’ he stubbornly told his father before signing the papers.

Their son was a jokester, easy going and popular. He loved golf and vacationing in Myrtle Beach, S.C. But there was a serious side too, and his parents said he believed in serving his country. As a bonus, he thought military service would help him one day get a job with the FBI or CIA.

Before leaving for Iraq, he took his girlfriend to a car dealership along I-79, pointed to a giant American flag flying overhead, and declared, ‘‘This is why I joined the Marines.’’

When his body was brought home, the hearse passed the same flag.

The day of Kovacicek’s funeral, people lined Route 19, holding signs with his name. Little kids waved flags and men held their hands over their hearts to pay respect to the procession of more than 300 cars. His parents say they’ve been overwhelmed by the support of the community with tributes and phone calls from his friends and fellow Marines.

In Iraq, they later learned, he used to serenade his buddies with a song his father learned in boot camp and taught him as a boy.

His voice choking, Joe Kovacicek recalled the words: ‘‘You can have your Army khaki, you can have your Navy blue, but here’s another fighting man I’ll introduce to you.’’

Among his belongings returned to the family was a tiny worn-out Bible he carried in his pocket.

His mother, Judi, said she didn’t watch President Bush’s recent address on the war because they try to stay out of the politics of Iraq.

‘‘If God was going to take him at 22, if he didn’t take him like he did, how was he going to do it? I feel a lot better losing him this way because there was a lot of meaning behind what he did,’’ his father said.