BY BRIAN L. HUCHEL
GEORGETOWN — Family and friends said their last goodbyes Monday as the body of local soldier, Sgt. Kenneth Nichols Jr., was laid to rest in Danville National Cemetery.
Residents from the area filled almost 200 floor seats in the gym at Georgetown-Ridge Farm High School where the community funeral service was conducted at 11 a.m. Monday. More people filled almost three-fourths of the bleachers on one side of the gym.
Among the speakers at the 75-minute event were Nichols’ close friend and fellow soldier, Sgt. Donald Wagner, Maj. Gen. James Hodge and family member Tinisha Shade, who read a letter Nichols had sent while serving overseas.
In the letter, Nichols said he wouldn’t change a thing in how his life had gone.
“I’ve learned from everything that has happened and I’ve grown,” Shade read to the large crowd.
“I’m here now because of what I did,” Nichols later wrote in the letter.
Nichols, who was on his second tour of duty, died on Dec. 1 while patrolling in Afghanistan. His death came only hours after he was awarded the rank of sergeant. He was a member of Company D 2nd Battalion 12 Infantry 4 BCT out of Fort Carson, Colo.
Nichols left behind a wife, Lexi, and four children.
Hodge awarded Nichols a Bronze Star and Purple Heart posthumously as part of the funeral services. He thanked the family for letting him be part of the event.
“I’m here today because the Army cares about one of its own,” he said.
Hodge said Nichols’ unit conducted a memorial service for him in which the soldiers said he was well liked and respected and “always concerned about his men.”
The event began with a slide show presentation of photos of Nichols as a child through adulthood as well as with his children, wife and family.
Following the services, a long procession traveled to Danville National Cemetery where Nichols was laid to rest with military honors. Traffic in all directions stopped along Illinois Route 1 as people got out of their vehicles to watch.
Others stood along the street, some holding flags that added to the parade of red, white and blue that led from the high school through Georgetown, Westville, Belgium and Tilton.
Pastor Joe Humrichous, in speaking to the family and audience, had the shortest and truest statement about the Georgetown soldier.
“Kenneth Nichols died for us,” he said, adding later that the soldier’s death “constitutes a call to appreciate our freedom.”
